


the light in the dark

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, multiverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-01-30 17:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21431923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: “We’re supposed to be testing this equipment out to make it the best, Nolan.”“Ugh, I know.” Emma shakes her head and gives Alyssa a tired look. “Can I at least finish what I’m doing here? I work on every car in the shop, Greene, I’m not your personal mechanic.”Alyssa snorts. “I’m glad you aren’t. It would be my own personal hell.”“That makes two of us.”
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 22
Kudos: 95





	1. blue

The Thunderbird speeds down the road, tires burning as it takes a turn too hard. Behind the wheel, Alyssa Greene mutters a curse under her breath as Nick Boomer’s Corvette takes the opportunity to pass her. She shifts her car into the next gear and pushes it forward, triggering the second engine, and she winces as the propulsion shoves her hard into her seat.

Her car zips forward, past Nick’s just in time to cross the line, but she doesn’t smile as she looks down at her watch to check her track time.

* * *

“It’s too slow.”

Emma Nolan rolls her eyes as she wipes grease off of her hands with a towel. “You’re hitting a hundred seventy-seven kilometers an hour with the second engine, Greene. What more do you want the poor thing to do, fly?”

Alyssa squints at her. “The speed isn’t the problem. I was at seventy-five miles per hour approaching the final curve. That should’ve been more than enough to beat Nick, but I lost almost all of that momentum within the turn because my tires were skidding out. I  _ needed _ the propulsion to boost me all the way to one-ten in order to catch back up. That shouldn’t happen.”

“Oh.” Emma starts removing one of the tires on the Corvette. “Have you tried filing your complaint with physics? It’s just that I’m a bit busy, and I don’t really have time to completely reconfigure your car so that it doesn’t follow the basic laws of science.”

“We’re supposed to be testing this equipment out to make it  _ the best, _ Nolan.”

“Ugh, I  _ know.” _ Emma shakes her head and gives Alyssa a tired look. “Can I at least finish what I’m doing here? I work on every car in the shop, Greene, I’m not your personal mechanic.”

Alyssa snorts. “I’m glad you aren’t. It would be my own personal  _ hell.” _

“That makes two of us.”

“Can you just do something to help me keep up the speed and traction on curves?”

Emma gives her a dry grin. “What’s the magic word?”

“Fuck you.”

“That’s two words.”

Alyssa turns and starts to walk away, flipping her off over her shoulder as she goes.

“Oh, don’t get your knickers in such a twist, Greene!” Emma calls after her, laughing. She shakes her head again and picks up a wrench, whistling softly as she goes back to the car she’s working on.

* * *

Emma props open the hood of Alyssa’s Thunderbird, staring down at the various parts. She gently pats the engines. “I know, sweetheart,” she says softly. “The mean driver doesn’t appreciate you at all, does she? It’s okay. I love you no matter what.”

She gives a quiet laugh and takes off her leather jacket, setting it on top of her workbench before she lies down on the roller board on the floor and slides under the car. “Why don’t we see what we can do to make her happy, huh? Not that anything could ever make that lunatic happy.”

She’s about to start taking apart the entire propulsion system, but before she can even touch it, she hears a sound.

The faint whine of power starting to run into both engines.

“Hey,” Emma whispers, resting her hand against the underside of the car. “Hey, baby, calm down. What’s gotten into you?”

A blue electrical surge sparks across the surface of the metal, and she jerks her hand away. “What the fu-”

Another surge bursts out of nowhere and everywhere, making her bones shudder. The wheeled board underneath her shatters at the same time as the two jacks propping up the car are thrown back and all four tires explode, and Emma throws her arms over her face as the car plummets towards her. It stops just short of crushing her, barely held up by its rims, and she immediately tries to slide back out from underneath it, hindered by the shattered wood she’s now lying on and the painful blue sparks now pulsing wildly across the metal.

She’s about to call for someone, anyone, even Alyssa, when she hears something that makes her blood run cold.

The engines picking up, overspinning, and starting to overburn.

“Oh, God,” Emma whispers.

* * *

Alyssa knocks on Barry Glickman’s door, waiting patiently in the doorway as he finishes up some paperwork.

He smiles up at her and leans back in his chair. “Alyssa. Come in.”

“You wanted to see me, boss?” she says as she walks in and sits down in the chair in front of his desk. “Whatever Nolan told you, it’s not true.”

Barry raises an eyebrow. “Are you two fighting again?”

“Again? We stopped?”

He shakes his head, still smiling. “One of these days, I’m going to lock you both in a room until you agree to try to get along.”

“Oo, like a cage match to the death? I could take her.”

Barry laughs and taps his pen against his desk. “How’s the engine doing in the test drives?”

Alyssa shrugs. “The engine’s doing amazing. It definitely gives a hell of a boost. I think this configuration is the most promising of any that we’ve worked on so far.”

“That’s good to know. I think that-”

The rest of his sentence is swallowed by the deafening sound of an explosion. Alyssa jumps to her feet and goes to the window. “Jesus,” she whispers. “The garage.”

Barry grabs his jacket and pulls it on, already headed for the door. “Emma.”

* * *

There’s little left of the maintenance garage but debris and burning embers.

Alyssa picks up a piece of metal, a twisted piece of charred light blue frame that she knows is from her own car.

If anyone was in this building, there is no way they possibly could have survived an explosion that did  _ this. _

Barry stands amongst the wreckage, looking shell-shocked, running a hand through his hair as he tries to take it all in.

Alyssa swallows and tightens her grip on the metal, raising her head, and her gaze lands on something past Barry, something she hadn’t noticed when they first arrived and that he clearly hasn’t yet noticed, either.

A person, standing in the middle of what used to be the garage.

“Barry,” Alyssa says quietly.

He turns and follows her gaze, and they both walk forward as quickly as they can, stumbling over flames and destroyed cars.

They both stop short, and Alyssa hears Barry murmur,  _ “What the hell?” _

Something isn’t right.

The woman standing in front of them, looking around in confusion, just…  _ isn’t right. _

Her hair is short, almost a pixie cut, trimmed above her ears instead of falling to her chin in messy curls.

There’s a recent scar on her jaw, a scar that wasn’t there this morning.

Her clothes, usually dark jeans and a t-shirt under a flannel or leather jacket, are instead tan coveralls,  **AIR FORCE ** stitched onto the right side of the chest,  **NOLAN** stitched onto the left.

At her feet, as if it’s been dropped from her right hand, is some sort of helmet, the dark face shield still closed.

And when she looks at Barry and speaks, the Irish accent that Alyssa has come to associate with Emma Nolan is instead a recognizably American one.

“C-Colonel?” she stammers, fear in her voice. “What the hell is going on?”


	2. orange

Alyssa Greene is about three seconds away from shooting her flying partner.

“Hey, Greene, do you think you’ll be able to keep up this time?” Emma Nolan asks, jumping up onto the stool next to Alyssa’s locker and balancing on it. “You’ve been slacking lately.”

“Because I was flying the baseline plane, Nolan. It’s kind of easy to fly faster when you’re in a plane with an experimental engine in it that provides extra power.” Alyssa steps into her flightsuit and zips it up, closing her eyes and sighing as Emma jumps off the stool and lands next to her. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

Emma shakes her head and grins. “Colonel said to wait with you until he was ready for us.”

“Probably because you need a babysitter,” Alyssa mutters.

“Huh?”

“Can you at least wait somewhere that isn’t near me? I haven’t had caffeine yet, and I think you’ve had too much.”

Emma shakes her head. “No, I don’t drink coffee.”

Alyssa watches her bounce up onto her heels a few times, all endless energy and fire. “Please never start.”

Emma continues to stand still for barely a moment before she moves again and hops up onto the floor of Alyssa’s locker to look inside.

“Hey, why do they keep putting you on baseline, anyway? Do you suck or something? Last time I was stuck on baseline for a few weeks it was because I failed a check flight because I was up all night racing moonlight motorcycles with Boomer and Shields. Did you know that those things go way faster than you’d think? It’s actually pretty cool, because they-”

_ “Nolan!” _ Alyssa grabs her by the front of her flightsuit and pulls her off of the locker, walking her backwards towards the door. “Go find something to do.”

Emma pouts. “I  _ am _ doing something.”

“What? Annoying me?”

“Yeah.”

Alyssa sighs. “Can you do something else?”

“Nothing that’s as much fun.”

“Well, that sucks for you.” She shoves Emma out of the room and lets the door slide shut in her smirking face.

* * *

Emma grins as she flies her plane underneath Alyssa’s, staying slow and matching her pace. She hits the radio button with her thumb. “Hey. Nice view out there, huh?”

_ “Clouds and sunshine. Nothing prettier.” _

“How’s the charge on that old piece of junk you’re flying?”

_ “The panels are taking in plenty of solar energy. I could fly all night. And this plane is younger than you, Nolan, so does that make you an old piece of junk, too?” _

“I don’t know, Greene. We’re the same age, so…”

_ “Oh, fuck off.” _

A tired voice comes over the radio line.  _ “Major Greene. Major Nolan. Do you by any chance have anything more important to be talking about right now?” _

Emma clears her throat. “Sorry, Colonel.”

_ “Sorry, Colonel.” _

“Well, Greene, if you’re ready to go, let’s open this thing up and see how fast we can get it.”

_ “Nolan, don’t do anything stupid.” _

“When have I ever done anything stupid?” Emma asks with a laugh.

_ “Do you actually want me to answer that? I have a notebook. It’s categorized by date and time, and each entry is then alphabetized.” _

Emma grins as she taps a few commands on the digital screen in front of her, activating the more powerful propulsion system within her plane and waiting for it to absorb a bit more light from the sun. “Fuck off,” she says casually, before hitting the last command and shooting her plane forward in the sky.

She gives a small whoop of excitement as she’s shoved back in her seat, laughing as her plane bursts through the clouds, leaving Alyssa’s plane far back in the distance.

_ “Dammit, Nolan, you didn’t give me any warning!” _

“No warning in test flying, Greene!” Emma cackles as she pulls her plane into a barrel roll, checking the diagnostics on the screen to her left, making sure the engines were all performing as they should.

She’s about to turn around, to fly back towards Alyssa to loop mockingly around her a few times, when things suddenly go wrong.

Emma flinches back as orange sparks fly out of her screen and her joystick.

_ “Hey, Nolan, do you-” _

Alyssa’s voice goes to static and then cuts out completely as her radio screen darkens. Her instrument panel shatters as more sparks run alongside it, and, before she can get another check of them, the diagnostics panel shatters, too.

“Oh, fuck,” Emma mutters. “Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.”

She pulls the emergency kill switch for the experimental engine, and her heart drops to her stomach when the sound of it, roaring right alongside the standard propellors, doesn’t even slow down.

Another flash of sparks explodes next to her, making her dizzy and disoriented, and when she regains herself she realizes that it’s destroyed the release mechanism for the cockpit.

She can’t get out of the plane.

Emma swallows, listening as both types of engines rev up and watching as the orange sparks run along the outside of her plane, getting closer and closer to the small emergency backup fuel tank.

“Oh,  _ fuck.” _

* * *

Alyssa’s plane comes out of the clouds at the exact moment that Emma’s plane explodes.

“Oh, God,” she whispers.

_ “Major? Major what the hell just happened?” _

“Nolan… I… I don’t…”

_ “Major!” _

“Sir, I… Nolan’s plane just… It’s  _ gone.” _

* * *

Alyssa is quiet as she gets out of the Jeep that Colonel Barry Glickman is driving, staring at the burning remains of the plane.

She hates Emma Nolan.

She still didn’t want her to die like  _ that. _

No pilot would wish this on another.

“Look for the black boxes,” Barry says, his voice quiet and somber. “We need to find out what the hell happened here.”

Alyssa nods, stepping through the wreckage, her feet hot even through her thick boots. “Should you call…” She trails off, unsure of what to say.

She’s flown alongside Emma for six years, and she still doesn’t know if she has anyone that should be notified as next-of-kin.

“There’s no one to call,” Barry says. “Just keep looking, Alyssa.”

When Barry calls her by her first name, she knows it’s a bad sign.

Alyssa steps around a large piece, the remains of a propellor blade, and freezes.

Emma is standing in the middle of the crash site, dressed in black jeans and a light blue t-shirt.

But everything about her feels  _ wrong. _

She turns to Alyssa, confusion in her eyes. “Greene, what’s going on?” she murmurs, an accent in her voice that Alyssa has never heard from her before.

Alyssa approaches her carefully. “It’s okay,” she says slowly. “You were in a plane crash.”

Emma blinks. “I’ve never been in a plane in my life. What…” She looks around and takes a few steps back, fear starting to settle on her face. “Where the hell am I?”

Alyssa laughs. “Very funny, Nolan. Quit playing around. I’m already regretting being mildly glad to see you in one piece.”

“What… I… I-I…” Emma shakes her head and keeps looking around. “I was just… the car just… it exploded, and…” She sits down on the ground and stares down at her hands, and Alyssa realizes that they look like they’re covered in black soot or oil. “What’s happening to me?”

* * *

“So.” Alyssa claps her hands together as Sheldon Saperstein steps out of the medical bay, closing the door behind him. “How bad of a concussion are we talking? It has to be a major one if she’s managed to adopt an  _ accent. _ I mean, seriously?”

“She’s absolutely fine.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes, watching through the glass as Emma squints at the computer. “Okay, well, I guess she’s just being her normal idiot self, then.”

Sheldon shakes his head. “Greene, you don’t understand. She’s  _ perfectly fine. _ She doesn’t even have so much as a scratch on her from the crash. It’s like she was never in it. The scar on her chin from that motorcycle accident last month? It’s not there. And I ran her bloodwork.”

“And?”

“You know all those vaccinations you both had to get in order to work here?”

Alyssa shrugs. “Sure. What about them?”

“She has none of them. She has a few vaccination markers, but I don’t recognize any of them.”

“What…” Alyssa swallows, her blood cold in her veins. “What are you trying to say, doc?”

Sheldon turns and stares at Emma as she sets her hand on the light panel on the wall and flinches back at the sudden bright sunlight that fills the room. “I ran her DNA. It matches what we have in the system. But if the woman in that room is Emma Nolan? She’s not  _ our _ Emma Nolan.”

* * *

Alyssa steps into the medical bay as Emma fidgets with a small light tube. She shakes it, and it immediately lights up, shining her directly in the eyes. She winces and tosses it, still lit, back onto the table as she rubs her eyes.

“Do you need to play with everything?” Alyssa asks dryly, picking the light tube up and shaking it to turn it back off.

“What kind of torch is that?” Emma asks curiously.

“Torch? Oh my God. You’re a time traveler.”

Emma blinks at her. “I think Americans call it a flashlight.”

Alyssa frowns, almost disappointed. “Oh. I thought I had figured it out.”

“Figured  _ what _ out?”

“Who the hell you really are.”

Emma rubs at her eyes again. “Alyssa, for God’s sake, you know who I am. Or at least, after all the crap I do to make sure you have a working car, you damn well  _ better _ know who I am.” She shakes her head and mutters, “Jesus.”

“Humor me. What’s your name? Your full, legal name?”

“Emma Elizabeth Nolan.” She leans against the wall. “I  _ would _ show you my driver’s license, but I think it got blown up.  _ Think. _ Because I don’t understand  _ what happened.” _

Alyssa shakes her head. “I don’t know, either.” She holds out her hand. “Do you think you can give me a chance to help you find out?”

Emma gives her hand a suspicious look. “The Alyssa I know would never help me.”

“Yeah. And the Emma I know would never accept my help. I guess we’re both in a weird position here.”

They stare at each other for a long moment.

Then Emma reaches out and takes Alyssa’s hand.


	3. blue

“What are we thinking?” Alyssa asks, her arms folded across her chest as she looks through the window into the empty office where the woman who looks like Emma is seated, leaning back in her chair. “Twins? Doppelgangers? Clones? Extremely elaborate prank? If it’s the last one, please tell me I can shoot her.”

“I’m not exactly sure that it’s any of them,” Barry says softly. He hands Alyssa a small black rectangle. “This was in her pocket.”

Alyssa frowns down at it. “What is it?”

“Not entirely sure, but Sheldon took a sample of the material it’s made of. Our systems can’t even identify it. It’s like it doesn’t exist on our planet.”

“Okay, so I guess I’ll just add ‘alien’ to the list?” Alyssa snorts. “Barry, come on.”

Barry bites his lip. “Angie mentioned something once. A theory about explosions powerful enough to break the plane between one universe and the next. She was worried about the strength of the energy contained in the engines we’ve been working on.”

_ “One universe and the next? _ You’re talking a multiverse theory? I don’t think I get paid enough for there to be more than one Emma.”

“More than one Emma, more than one you, more than one me. Maybe, depending on how that Earth’s history developed.” Barry turns to Alyssa. “I want you to go in there and talk to her.”

Alyssa raises an eyebrow. “What? Why me?”

“You’ve been working with her for years. There’s no one better.”

“Uh, yeah. There is.”

Barry swallows. “Alyssa,” he says quietly. “If the person in that room really isn’t _ our _ Emma, then we don’t know where ours is. And I’m not sure I can look a stranger in the eye while knowing that it’s possible that the kid is dead.”

Alyssa pauses. “Okay. I’ll talk to her.”

* * *

“I was beginning to think that you were going to just stare at me all day,” the woman says, her boots up on the empty desk, her chair up on the back two legs. “Have you decided yet?”

Alyssa sits down across from her. “Decided what?”

“Twin? Doppelganger? Clone? Prank? Alien? Alternate universe? I’m gonna bet that you’re the cynical type.”

“I… You heard us?”

“Nah. I can read lips, sweetheart. It’s a good skill to have when you’re a test pilot. Never know when a radio might die and you might need to communicate from one cockpit to another. Sign language is good, too.”

“Test pilot, huh?” Alyssa sets the black rectangle between them. “Is that what this is for?”

“That’s the key for my motorcycle. It’s really not that special.”

Alyssa takes a key out of her pocket and places it next to the rectangle. _ “That’s _ a key for a motorcycle.”

“Oh, holy shit.” The woman puts her feet back on the ground and lets her chair slam back down on the ground. She picks the metal key up and holds it up in front of her. “I’ve only seen these in, like, museums.”

“Very funny,” Alyssa says with a roll of her eyes.

“I’m not joking, but then again, the Alyssa I know has no sense of humor either.”

“You… know me?”

“A version. Something about you isn’t right.” The woman looks over the key at her. “Given the reaction everyone has been having, I’m going to guess that you know a version of me, too?”

Alyssa grits her teeth. “That depends. What’s your name?”

“Major Emma Elizabeth Nolan, Air Force Solar Science Division.” Emma leans forward, smirking. “Your turn.”

“Alyssa Greene, Division of none of your goddamn business.”

“That’s real wordy. Do you abbreviate that to DNYGB?” Emma puts her feet back up on the table and leans back. “That’s almost just as long. Could you just say it? How would it go? Donigbee? Dunygbuh? Hm. I’ll have to work on that.”

Alyssa rubs at her temples. “I can’t believe this. My universe’s Emma, the most annoying person on the planet, got replaced by _ an even more annoying version.” _

Emma snaps her fingers and points at her. “There it is.”

“Wh… There _ what _ is?”

_ “Your universe.” _ Emma drums her fingers against her knee. “You just admitted it. Whether you want to actually say it or not, you think I’m from another universe. Which, honestly, is a relief to me, because if this is what the past was like? I’m shocked there was ever any scientific progress.”

Alyssa narrows her eyes. “We have plenty of _ progress _ here, thanks. That’s the whole point of this place. I’m a test pilot in a sense myself. I drive.”

“Drive? Like cars?” Emma’s eyes widen. “You drive cars with experimental engines?”

“I… Maybe…”

“I mean, that’s how I ended up here from what I can tell. My experimental plane blew up.” She frowns and looks around. “Whoa. Unless I’m dead. Am I dead?”

“Do you want to be?” Alyssa mutters.

Emma sits up again and leans across the table. “So you’re a test driver. What’s my counterpart?”

“She’s a mechanic. She could fix anything, but she can’t drive worth a damn.”

“I can drive anything. In fact, I bet that despite never driving one of your ancient cars in my life, I could even beat _ you.” _

Alyssa leans forward, matching her. “You’re delusional.”

Emma smirks. “Maybe a little. But you know that you’re a coward if you turn me down.”

“I have nothing to prove to you.”

“You’re right. You’d like me to prove some things to _ you, _ though, wouldn’t you?”

Alyssa is quiet for a long moment. “Most of our best cars are gone. They got blown up in whatever incident brought you here.”

“Like I said,” Emma says calmly. “I can drive anything.”

They just stare at each other, Emma smirking, Alyssa’s jaw set stubbornly.

“Fine,” Alyssa says. “But don’t expect me to take it easy on you, Nolan.”

“I’d be disappointed in you if you did, Greene.”


	4. orange

The door to the room Emma has been assigned in the barracks slides open, and Alyssa steps inside to find Emma on the floor, her clock in pieces on the ground around her.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Emma looks up at her and runs a hand through her hair, a frustrated frown on her face. “Making a bloody mess of this.”

Alyssa takes a few steps forward. “Yeah, I gathered that much. Why?”

“I didn’t know how it worked. I don’t know how anything in this place works.” Emma’s brow furrows, and she picks up a thin piece of metal. “I hate that. Knowing how things work is what I’m good at. When I don’t know how something works, I take it apart and put it back together until I know the importance of every single piece. But some of these things are… I can grasp the idea behind them, the intention, but I don’t know how they work, and it’s driving me mad.”

“I’ve always loved puzzles. It’s why I went into the Science Division in the first place.” Alyssa sits down on the floor across from her. “Are you a scientist?”

Emma laughs. “Hardly. I’m a mechanic.”

“Hm.” Alyssa picks up one of the pieces on the floor. “I’ve found that sometimes the best mechanics see things in two days what a scientist wouldn’t see if given two years.”

“Sure. That’s why I didn’t see the engine that was about to blow up until it trapped me underneath a car and sent me here.”

Alyssa shrugs. “Who are we to question the universe?”

Emma smirks and leans back on her hands. “You said you’re a test driver, right?”

“Pilot, but yes.”

“I’m pretty sure questioning the universe is your job description.”

“Fair point,” Alyssa laughs. She idly starts putting the clock together, fully aware that Emma is watching her every movement. “Can I ask you something? Your accent. The Emma I know doesn’t have it.”

“Where was she born?”

“I… don’t know.”

Emma nods, a thoughtful look on her face. “I was born in Ireland. Lived there until I was about ten, then moved to the U.S. Maybe your edition didn’t have that.”

“Maybe. I don’t really know a whole lot about her past, honestly.”

“Really? No family or anything?”

“Not sure.” Alyssa shrugs. “I didn’t even know if she has a next of kin when we thought she was in the plane when it blew up.”

“Ugh,” Emma says, but Alyssa frowns when she hears what’s almost a forced casualness in her voice. “It figures. Every version of me is perpetually single with shit parents.” She stands up, wandering over to the wall, leaning against it near the light panel. “I was sort of hoping she’d have at least a _ slightly _ better life than me.”

“She’s an ass, so at least you seem to be superior to her in the personality department.”

Emma gives a small smile. “You and the Alyssa I know might disagree on that, but it’s nice of you to say.” She looks down at the small clock part in her hand. “Were you serious yesterday? About helping me?”

“Of course I was. I’m sure we can figure out what’s going on. Solving puzzles is what we do.”

“I’m glad.” She turns the part around in her hand again. “And I’m sorry.”

Alyssa frowns. “What are you sorry-”

Emma taps the light panel, and the whole room goes dark. She tosses the clock towards the pile, and before Alyssa can get up to move towards her, the whole pile erupts with sparks, making her jerk backwards, shielding her eyes from the sudden light.

She hears the door slide open, but by the time she’s reoriented, Emma is gone.

* * *

“You’re telling me that a_ mechanic _ who might not even be _ from this world _ somehow managed to make an explosive out of a clock she says she’s never seen before in her life?” Barry shoots an exasperated look over his shoulder. “How the _ hell _ does that even happen?”

“It wasn’t an explosive _ per se, _ Colonel,” Captain Kaylee Gonzales says, following him alongside Alyssa. “Every part made to generate the light inside the clock was rigged to overload once a command was given. Kind of like a really intense sparkler. It could’ve caused a fire, probably, but there’s no way it could’ve hurt Major Greene.”

“And then, what, she just walked out of the building?”

Kaylee gives him a sheepish look. “Sir, she looks like Major Nolan. Even the people who know what’s going on wouldn’t have thought fast enough to question her.”

Barry sighs. “Alright. Major Greene, go find this stupid kid before she gets herself killed. Captain Gonzales, I want to know how long.”

“...How long, sir?”

“How long was she in that room alone? I want to know how much time she had to figure out how to do this.” Barry shakes his head. “Our Nolan isn’t this clever when she’s not in a plane,” he mutters before walking away.

Kaylee glances at Alyssa. “Wow. You let Emma Nolan charm you to distraction? That’s not like you.” She smirks. “Usually she _ annoys _ you to distraction.”

“Oh, shut up. I like this one. She’s smart and isn’t a pain in the ass.”

“Sure. Escaping a military base and making me do math _ really _isn’t being a pain in the ass.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes. “You’re a physicist, Kaylee. All you _ do _ is math.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

Alyssa gives her a good-natured shove. “Go away. I have to track down someone I don’t know who has no connection to anything in this area.”

“Sounds like fun! Good luck!”

“Sure. Fun. Or a punishment,” Alyssa mutters.

Kaylee beams at her. “Probably that one!”

Alyssa flips her off, making her laugh, then turns and heads for the exit of the barracks.

* * *

She finds Emma at dusk, in a cemetery close to town. She is sitting in the grass in front of a grave, silent when Alyssa approaches.

“You know, if you wanted to go on a trip, I could’ve shown you around,” Alyssa says dryly. “You didn’t need to try to burn my eyes out.”

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” Emma murmurs.

“Yeah. I know.” Alyssa sits down next to her. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Emma shrugs and rubs at one of her eyes with the back of her hand. “I, uh. I guess I just. Since you said you didn’t know much about the other me, I thought maybe she wasn’t alone like I’ve always been. I guess we have more in common than you’d like to believe.”

Alyssa finally looks at the tombstone, and she feels her heart clench painfully.

ELIZABETH ANN NOLAN, NEE BECKER

“Who…”

“Our grandmother,” Emma says softly. “I lost her right before we moved out of Ireland.” She nods at the stone. “Looks like your version lost her only a few years ago.” She swallows. “Good. Good. At least one of us had her longer.”

“I-I… I’m sorry, Emma.” Alyssa reaches over and takes her hand. “I really am.”

Emma pauses before looking at her. “What’s the point of this?”

“Of what?”

_ “This? _ Me being sent here? What’s the point of it all if nothing that matters is different?”

Alyssa watches the fire in her eyes, familiar but entirely new all at the same time. “I’m different,” she says quietly.

Emma’s eyes soften. “Yeah,” she whispers. “Yeah, I suppose you are.”

They just sit there for a long moment, until Alyssa realizes her hand is still laced with Emma’s. She clears her throat and pulls it back, standing and brushing off her pants. “We should get going. The base will be wondering what happened to us.”

“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

Alyssa sighs. “Honestly, Emma, I don’t know. I’m not really sure anybody knows what to do with you.”

Emma scoffs as she gets to her feet. “This isn’t the first place I’ve heard that, either.”


	5. blue

“No way. Absolutely no fucking way.”

Alyssa gives a heavy sigh. “Klein, come on. It’s one of the only cars still left in one piece.”

Kaylee Klein pulls herself up out of her Corvette and points at Emma. “Yeah, because this one blew the others up.” She pauses. “Or the other one. Who cares? I’m still not letting her drive anything.”

_ “I _ would be driving your Corvette,” Alyssa says. “I was going to put her in Kevin’s Thunderbird.”

“Oh, really? That’s nice.” Kaylee looks across the garage. “Hey! Gonzales! I hope you’re ready for even more work for yourself!”

Shelby Gonzales slides out from underneath a mangled Hudson Hornet. “What did you do this time, Klein?” she asks, exasperation in her voice.

“Why do you automatically assume that it’s _ my _ fault?”

“Because you can’t even drive in a straight line!”

“That was _ one time!” _ Kaylee makes a frustrated noise and shakes her head, but something catches her eye, and she looks past Alyssa. “What are you smirking at, Nolan?”

Alyssa turns to Emma, who’s trying badly to stop herself from laughing.

“Nothing,” Emma says quickly. “Nothing at all.”

Shelby gives her a weird look. “Alright. Well, if you idiots don’t have anything important to talk about, I have actual work to do.” She slides back underneath the car.

“Klein, come on. Please? It’s just _ one _ race.”

Kaylee sighs and moves her focus from Emma back to Alyssa. “Y’know what? Fine. But if you break my car, Greene, you’d better hope that this Nolan is as good of a mechanic as the other one is.”

“Doubtful,” Emma says cheerfully.

“Great,” Alyssa mutters.

* * *

As Emma walks around Kevin’s Thunderbird, studying it, Alyssa asks, “So. What are Kaylee and Shelby like in your world?”

“Hm?”

“I’m no idiot. You couldn’t keep yourself from laughing the moment you saw them interact. What was that about?”

Emma grins at her. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Alyssa shoves her up against the car, holding her there with a tight grip on the collar of the flannel shirt she had been given to replace her coveralls. “Don’t play games with me, Nolan. I’m not nearly in the mood.”

“Does that mean you might end up in the mood?” Emma asks with a smirk, leaning in towards Alyssa a bit.

Alyssa’s grip on her shirt tightens. “Fuck you.”

“That wasn’t what I was going for, but I have to admit, before we met I always thought that all Alyssa Greenes were ungodly boring and unattractive. First time in my life that I’ve been proven wrong.”

“I’m sure it won’t be the last,” Alyssa retorts.

“Yeah? Are you implying something about this race, Ms. Greene?”

“That I’m going to kick your ass?” Alyssa leans forward, so close that she can see every color in Emma’s hazel eyes, so close that their noses are touching. “Yeah, I think I am.”

“Tell you what, then. If you win, I’ll admit that I was wrong.”

Alyssa scoffs. “Not that we need to establish it, but what do you get if _ you _ win?”

Emma grins. “I’ll let you know.”

“...Fine. It’s a deal, Nolan.”

“I guess it is.”

Alyssa starts to let her go, then suddenly pins her against the car again. “Hold it. You never explained Kaylee and Shelby. Don’t think you can banter me into forgetting.”

Emma laughs and puts her hands into her pockets. “It _ almost _ worked though, now didn’t it?”

“Nolan…”

“Fine, fine. You really want to know? In my universe, they’re _ married.” _

Alyssa pauses for a long moment, staring at her, before bursting into laughter. “You’re joking.”

“I’m really not.”

“Kaylee and Shelby? That would never happen. They might bicker a little, but they’re best friends. They’ve never been anything more than that.” Alyssa snorts. “And Kaylee is straight.”

“Mm. Whatever. I’m just saying how it is where I’m from, Greene.” Emma twists out of Alyssa’s grip and goes back to examining the car.

“You say a lot of things, I’m noticing,” Alyssa mutters before turning and walking back towards the garage.

* * *

Emma looks down at the key in her hand, brushing her thumb over the cool metal.

“Everything okay?”

She raises her head, startled when Barry leans against the Thunderbird next to her. “Oh, uh, yes, sir.”

“You can call me Barry,” he says gently.

“Sorry, I just… on my world, you’re my _ boss. _ My senior officer. It’s not really easy to get that out of my head.”

“I’m…” He hesitates, confused. “I’m the other Emma’s boss, too. But things are a lot more casual around here.” He points at the key. “You’ve never used one of those before, have you?”

“No. It’s not how things work for us.” Emma rubs the back of her neck. “I can drive anything. Can I _ start _ anything? No, probably not.”

Barry laughs and pats her on the shoulder. “Here. How about I give you a rundown of how this thing works?”

“I told Greene I could do it. It’s cheating to get help.”

“Did you bet her that you can turn the car on the first time you see it?”

Emma pauses. “Well, no.”

“Then I don’t see the problem with it.” Barry raises an eyebrow. “Do you?”

“Well.” A small smile forms on Emma’s lips. “I guess not.”

“Come here, then. Let’s get you caught up to speed on the ye olde ways of vehicle function.”

* * *

Alyssa takes in a small, nervous breath as she paces next to Kaylee’s car at the starting line, glancing over at Emma as she casually leans against Kevin’s car. After a moment, she walks over and holds out her hand.

“Try not to die, Nolan.”

Emma snorts and shakes her hand. “Is that how you guys say ‘good luck’ around here?”

“It’s how I avoid telling you to fuck off.”

“Ah, I see. Why avoid it? You’re already so fun to annoy.”

Alyssa grits her teeth. “It’s going to be a _ pleasure _ to beat you today.”

“We’ll see.”

“You know what? Fuck off.”

Emma beams at her. “There we go.”

Alyssa stares at her for a long moment, then jabs a finger into Emma’s sternum. “Get in your car, Nolan.”

“Will do, Greene.”

* * *

Alyssa drives around a curve, laughing as she looks into her mirror and doesn’t see Emma’s car behind her. The laughter dies when movement catches her eye, and she glances to her left to see the Thunderbird passing her.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she mutters. She shifts to the next gear and tries to go faster, but the Thunderbird moves in front of her suddenly, making her hit her brakes to avoid a collision. _ “Shit!” _ She tries to recover, picking the speed back up, but she knows it’s too late.

“Oh, God,” she groans. “This is going to suck.”

* * *

Emma gets out of the Thunderbird, laughing. She leans against the door as the car Alyssa’s driving stops next to her. “Aw. I thought I was going to have time to take a nap.”

“How did you do it?” Alyssa demands, walking over to her, looking furious. “How the _ fuck _ did you pull that off? There’s no way.”

“I told you, Greene. I can drive anything.”

Alyssa’s jaw tenses. “Fine. What do you want, then? What’s your damn bet?”

Emma pauses, seeing the deep embarrassment in Alyssa’s eyes underneath the anger. She glances over at Kaylee, Shelby, Barry, and Kevin, all watching a few feet away. “Y’know what, Greene? I’ll tell you later. It’s more fun that way.”

* * *

Alyssa heads into the garage, frustration fueling every step. She paces for a minute, before whirling around and kicking over an empty bucket.

“I didn’t really mean to piss you off _ this _ much. It was just supposed to be fun, Greene.”

She turns, seeing Emma sitting on the hood of Kevin’s car. “Well, it wasn’t _ fun, _ Nolan. I don’t lose races. I sure didn’t want to lose one to a rookie driver who doubles as a smartass _ and _ as a doppelganger for a mechanic I hate.”

Emma hops off of the car. “I feel useless. I’m no scientist. I’m no mechanic. I’m a pilot. I can’t figure out how to get myself home, but I can at least do something with a purpose while I’m here, and the only thing I’m good at is driving, flying, putting vehicles through their paces.”

“Being a reckless jackass? Cutting me off like that could’ve killed us both.”

“The challenge was to win. Not to avoid any risk.” Emma shrugs and takes a few steps towards Alyssa. “I went out there to prove to you who I am and what I can do. I think I did that. Whether you’re happy with the result or not, that’s just how it is.”

“And what exactly _ about _ that result, Nolan? Are you ever going to tell me what it is that you won, or are you going to make me suffer forever?”

“I was just waiting until everybody wasn’t staring at you.”

Alyssa frowns. “Why?”

Emma grabs her face in her hands, tugs her forward, and kisses her hard on the mouth. It takes a moment for Alyssa to even realize what’s happening, but before she can react, Emma is letting her go and walking out of the garage.


	6. orange

“Reckless, stupid, dangerous, inconsiderate-”

Emma pinches the bridge of her nose and leans back in her chair, wincing as Barry continues listing things off.

“Are you even listening to me, Nolan?”

“Oh. Uh.” Emma blinks up at him. “Yes?”

Barry sighs and sits down across from her. “Look. I get it, okay? This is an unfamiliar place, and you’re not entirely sure what to do about it. But you can’t just run off on your own. You have no idea about potential hazards, you don’t know the laws, and you’ve got no idea how to even get around if you got lost. It doesn’t matter that you’re not the same Emma Nolan who signed on to this division. You’re still my responsibility, and that means your  _ safety _ is my responsibility. Until we get this sorted out, that’s just going to have to be the way it is.”

“I don’t belong here, Barry. I wouldn’t even know where to start if I stayed. What am I supposed to do, sit in my room until something sends me home?  _ If _ something sends me home? I don’t want this to sound like a threat, but when I get bored, I start taking things apart, and if you make me just sit here with nothing to do I’ll have your whole base dismantled in a week.”

“That’s why I’m not  _ going _ to make you just sit here.” Barry tosses the clock onto the table. “Two hours. One of my people checked the cameras. It took you  _ two hours _ to figure out how to turn that into a light grenade.”

Emma shrugs. “Everything’s just parts. Once you figure out what they do, you can put them together however you like.”

“Not everybody can think like that.” Barry gives her a thin smile. “I have a challenge for you.”

“...I’m listening.”

“We have the remains of the engine pulled out of the wreck of the plane that the other Emma was flying. We also have a mangled old plane that doesn’t start anymore, an old piece of junk that we were going to get rid of. What if I put all of that and a few miscellaneous other parts into a room and let you see what you could do with it?”

Emma leans forward. “Any limits?”

“Try not to blow anything up?”

“Apparently that’s difficult when someone with the name Emma Nolan is around, but I’ll do my best. And you won’t be disappointed.”

Barry reaches out and shakes her hand. “I didn’t think I would be.”

* * *

“Holy… shit,” Alyssa says as she walks into the old storage warehouse towards the back of the base.

Emma has the old plane in pieces, scattered in a neat arrangement mimicking the outline of what the plane would look like when it’s back together. She’s wandering around the cluster, pointing randomly at various parts, muttering things to herself.

“Is it safe to come in, or is this thing going to blind me if I get too close?” Alyssa says as she steps over a small pile of extra radio parts.

Emma looks up and gives her a sheepish smile. “It’s safe. But I’m never living that down, am I?”

“Unlikely. What do you have going on in here?”

“A load of rubbish is what I’ve got. I can’t believe this thing ever did anything, let alone got into the air.”

“I  _ know _ you’re not calling the plane I learned to fly on  _ garbage, _ Nolan.” Alyssa puts her hands on her hips. “She might not look like much anymore, but it’s not her fault. She’s a good plane.”

“Maybe she  _ was, _ but she’s not doing much anymore.” Emma walks over and winks at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll get her better than new.”

“How do you even do this? Just… look at something and  _ make _ it work, even if you’ve never seen it before?”

Emma shrugs. “It’s just how it’s always been. I took a radiator apart when I was five. By the time my mum found me, I’d put it back together better than it had ever been.”

Alyssa shakes her head slowly. “You really are something else, aren’t you?”

“I try to be,” Emma says with a grin.

After a pause, Alyssa glances towards a high window. “It’s almost sunset. Before it gets to dark, would you like to see exactly what it is that you’re building here?”

“What do you mean?”

“The first time we met, you said you’d never been in a plane before. Come on. Let’s get out of here for a bit.”

Emma pales. “Uh… No. That’s okay.”

Alyssa laughs. “Look, I’m a better pilot than the other you, okay?” She points at the burned remains of the experimental engine. “I swear I’m not going to cause another one of  _ those.” _

“I-It’s not that. I just… uh…” Emma shifts her weight between her feet and rubs the back of her neck. In a whisper, she admits, “I’m afraid of heights.”

“Oh.” Alyssa steps forward, reaching out and setting her hand on Emma’s shoulder. “Hey. You know that’s okay, right? That’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Emma just shrugs and stares down at the ground.

“I’m not going to be upset if you really don’t want to, and I’m sure not going to force you, but… Do you think you might want to give it a shot? Just to see what it’s like? I’ve known a few people who are afraid of heights but feel comfortable in a plane, because the metal around them makes them feel safe. They know there’s something there to keep them from falling.”

“I-I…” Emma looks up at her and swallows. “You’d be flying?”

“Yeah, of course. We have a two-seater plane that we use to scout out routes. It doesn’t go too fast, it’s one of the safest planes in our fleet, and you couldn’t find a better person to fly it. And I swear that’s not just the ego talking.”

Emma just stares at her for a moment before setting her jaw. “Okay. Alright.”

Alyssa grins. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it.”

* * *

_ “Ohhhh God. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have done this.” _

Alyssa glances over her shoulder and tries not to grin when she sees Emma pressed back and clutching at her seat. “You okay?” she says into the headset in her helmet.

_ “What part of what I just said sounds like I’m okay?” _

“Em. I need to know if you need me to land.”

There’s a long pause, and Alyssa is about to start to turn around when Emma’s voice comes, short and sharp.  _ “No. I’m okay.” _

“You’re sure?”

_ “I’m sure. I just. I’m scared.” _

“That’s alright,” Alyssa says gently. “You’re allowed to be scared as long as you don’t press any buttons. Or, like, hit me in the back of the head.”

Emma laughs.  _ “I think I can hold myself together at least that much. I… Oh, wow.” _ Alyssa can practically feel her lean forward in her seat, looking out the cockpit at the sunset in front of them.  _ “Lord Almighty. Look at that. It’s beautiful.” _

“Haven’t you seen a sunset before?” Alyssa teases gently.

_ “Not like this. Wow.” _

Alyssa grins. “And guess what, Emma?”

_ “Hm?” _

“Are you still scared?”

_ “A little.” _ Emma leans back in her seat.  _ “But I’m not sure I mind anymore.” _

* * *

Alyssa lands the plane in a small field, and she leads Emma out onto one of the wings, lying down on it and looking up at the growing array of stars above them.

“Are the stars the same?” Alyssa asks curiously.

“For the most part. You have more of them, though.” Emma laughs. “Or, at least, I can see more of them.”

Alyssa rolls over onto her side so that she can see Emma more clearly. “Thank you. For coming out here with me today. I know it wasn’t easy, but I’m glad that you feel you can trust me.”

Emma shifts onto her side as well. “Thank you for showing me what I’ve been missing.” She hesitates before asking, “Do you… Do you think we can do this again sometime?”

“Of course.” Alyssa laughs. “Don’t tell me you want to become a pilot like the other one, Nolan.”

“Oh, definitely not. I’m perfectly happy with the grease and wrenches.” Emma’s eyes soften. “But the quiet is nice. And I like watching you work.”

A gentle silence falls between them, and Alyssa leans forward.

Before she can kiss her, however, Emma stiffens and pulls back. “What are you doing?” she asks quietly.

“I-I… I thought… I’m sorry, I must’ve misread the moment.” Alyssa sits up and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “We, uhm, I think we should get back to the base.”

“Shit. Wait. I-I didn’t… Hold on.” Emma sits up and takes in a breath. “I don’t know what to do with you.”

Alyssa frowns. “What do you mean?”

“The Alyssa in my world. We don’t get along. We’ve butted heads from the day we met. But you? I…” She shrugs and shakes her head. “I don’t even know how to describe you.”

“You’re nothing like the Emma from this world. I don’t get along with her just like you don’t get along with your Alyssa. But… I-I… The way I feel for you is so, so different.”

Emma moves into a kneeling position. “I didn’t stop you because I don’t  _ want _ to kiss you. It’s just… In my world, the proper thing to do before a kiss is to at least put some effort in, you know? And I want to put the effort in. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to court you. I know it’s not simple. I know I may be forced back to whatever world or time or reality I’m from. But if there is any chance, any at all, I would like to take it.”

Alyssa pauses. “Is it rude to kiss someone on the cheek before this process?”

“Uhm. No? I don’t think so, at least. I’ve never done it before.”

“Good.” Alyssa leans forward and kisses Emma on the cheek. “You have my permission,” she murmurs.

Emma grins at her, a soft light in her eyes. “Really?”

“Really.” Alyssa stands and pulls Emma to her feet. “Now come on, Nolan. We need to go home.”


	7. blue

Emma walks through the rubble of the destroyed garage, looking around at the various pieces of debris. She brushes her hand over a twisted and burned toolbox, a small frown on her face.

“That was yours. Well, the other you.”

She looks up at Alyssa, leaning in the doorway. “It’s strange. It’s like a part of me… knows that it should matter to me, but I don’t know why.” Emma shakes her head and puts her hands in her pockets, grinning. “Doesn’t matter. I haven’t seen you since the race the other day. Are you avoiding me, Greene? Afraid that you-”

Alyssa marches over and slaps her, hard.

“Okay.” Emma moves her jaw a bit. “Maybe I misread the tension.”

“Do you really have  _ that little _ respect for me, Nolan?” Alyssa demands, her voice almost a snarl. “It’s not enough to humiliate me on a course, you have to throw yourself at me, too?”

“Whoa. Okay. Hold on a minute.” Emma holds her hands up in front of her. “We made a bet. It was just the prize for the bet.”

Alyssa gapes at her. “Why would you think that would be a good thing to  _ bet for?” _

“Wh-Why wouldn’t it… It was just one kiss, Greene.”

“I…” Alyssa pauses and takes a small step back. “You really don’t understand, do you?”

Emma gives a helpless shrug.

“Oh, God, you really are hopeless.” Alyssa rubs at her temples and sighs. “Look. In this world? There’s a certain expectation. Even if it’s just for casual sex, even if it’s just for a kiss, there’s a certain courtship to it. It’s considered extremely rude to try to just go for something and hope they respond favorably.”

“...Oh.” Emma blinks and puts her hands in her pockets, rocking back on her heels awkwardly. “Uh. You probably won’t believe this, but I wasn’t trying to be rude, Alyssa. I just wanted you to have some fun. You’re so damn tense, and I don’t get how you can have such a cool job and be so stressed out.” She pauses. “I don’t mean to offend you. There  _ can _ be something similar in my world, dates and things before a physical step, but if you’re just… I mean, if you’re not really shooting for any of the romantic shit and everything is just…” She gestures between them. “If it’s just  _ physical _ tension, there’s always the option to just skip all that and go to the fun part.” She gives Alyssa a small, crooked grin. “I have to admit, kissing you was a lot of fun, Alyssa Greene.”

Alyssa blushes a bit, the anger in her eyes almost softening.

Emma hunches her shoulders and stares down at the ground, looking like a scolded puppy. “I-I didn’t think things would work differently here, and that’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

She turns around and walks out of the garage as quickly as she can.

* * *

“I have a question.”

Shelby sighs heavily and pauses in the middle of replacing the headlight on Kaylee’s car. “No, I don’t know how you can get the other Nolan back.”

Alyssa frowns. “Why the hell would I want the other Nolan back? She’s the most annoying person in history. Rude, sarcastic, obnoxious, unhelpful-”

“Were you planning on asking your actual question, or are you just going to list qualities that describe  _ both _ versions of Emma but are apparently only true sins in one of them?”

“Look…” Alyssa points at her. “Shut the hell up. It’s relevant.” She pauses. “What do I do if Nolan kissed me because she didn’t know she’s not supposed to do that?”

Shelby turns around and rests her back against the car. “Well. Knowing you, I’m going to guess you’ve already punched her.”

“Slapped her, but basically yes.”

“Okay, well… What do you want from her?”

“I…” Alyssa pauses. “What do you mean?”

Shelby raises an eyebrow. “What. Do. You. Want. From. Her?”

“Saying. It. Slower. Doesn’t. Clarify. Shit.”

“For fuck’s sake, Alyssa, do you want to have sex with her or not?”

Alyssa flushes.  _ “Shelby!” _

“We’re all adults here.” Shelby shrugs. “You can tell the truth.”

“I-I… y-you… I’ve known her for like a week.”

“This version of her.”

“Well I sure as hell didn’t want to have sex with the other version!”

“Which brings us back around to my question. What do you want from  _ this _ one?”

Alyssa pauses for a long moment. Without another word, she turns and walks away, muttering under her breath.

Shelby shakes her head slowly. “Wow.” She turns and goes back to working on the headlight.

* * *

Emma sits in Kevin’s car, mentally reviewing the various parts and pieces in front of her. She jolts when there’s a sudden knock on her window, and she waits to regain her dignity before getting out and shutting the door so that she can talk to Alyssa face to face.

“How did you find me out here?” Emma asks.

“Driving out to the middle of the desert for alone time? Rookie move. We’ve all done that.” Alyssa puts her hands in her pockets. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Emma bows her head. “Look,” she says softly. “I really didn’t mean to hurt you, okay? I like the way we’ve been. Being able to snark back and forth with you has been more…  _ true _ fun than I’ve had in a while. I would never want to ruin that by doing something that would-”

“You didn’t hurt me, Nolan. I just… You should’ve considered the differences between our worlds, and I should’ve realized the moment it happened that you didn’t know. We both fucked up.”

“...Alright.” Emma runs a hand through her short hair before rubbing the back of her neck. “Then… What happens now?” She laughs. “Do I get to tease you about it, or do we just forget about it?”

Alyssa bites her lip and stares at her for a moment. “I think there’s an alternate option.”

“What do you-”

Alyssa grabs Emma by the collar of her flannel shirt and shoves her up against the car. She kisses Emma roughly, all tongue and teeth, and Emma’s hands press against her back to pull her closer. The kiss lingers until Alyssa lets go a bit forcefully, still holding her pinned against the metal.

Emma, dazed, stammers, “Wh-What was…”

“Well,” Alyssa says, a little out of breath. “Since you have a point about this…  _ tension. _ I figured there wasn’t any harm in following your world’s rules about things.” She swallows. “You know. Just when we need to relieve some of this...” She moves one hand from Emma’s shirt in order to gesture vaguely between them. “This.”

“Right. The this.”

“Exactly.”

The shock starts to fade from Emma, and she smirks slowly. “Do you have any more  _ this _ to vent at the moment?”

Alyssa’s hands slide up to Emma’s shoulders. “You know. I think I might.”


	8. orange

Emma walks through the base, looking around, searching.

“Are you lost?”

She turns and pauses, blinking. “Oh. Hi, Kaylee. Uh, maybe?”

Kaylee frowns. “You know my name?”

“Right. Sorry. I know another version of you.” Emma holds out her hand. “Emma Nolan, the not-soldier version.”

With a small laugh, Kaylee shakes her hand. “Captain Kaylee Gonzales, the physicist version. Unless my counterpart is, too.”

“No, no, definitely no- Whoa, wait, hold on.  _ Gonzales?” _ Emma laughs. “Hold on. Like  _ Shelby Gonzales?” _

Kaylee pauses, clearly confused. “You know my wife, too?”

Emma doubles over, laughing so hard she has to support herself against a nearby wall to keep from falling over. “Oh, God, this reality is the best. This is hysterical.”

“Why is this funny to you?” Kaylee asks, annoyance in her tone.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Emma clears her throat and forces herself back upright, swallowing to try to regain her composure. “It’s just. The versions of you that I know are really good friends, and you give each other hell, and I can’t imagine you courting let alone getting married.”

“The people around here were surprised, too. You never know.” Kaylee puts her hands in her pockets. “What is it that you’re looking for?”

“I… don’t really know.” Emma rubs the back of her neck. “I should be getting like… flowers, or making biscuits, or… something? But I don’t really know how to accomplish any of that here, so I’m sort of… I don’t know. I’m lost.”

“Biscuits like… for dogs?”

“What? No.” Emma sighs heavily. “I mean cookies.”

“Right, right.” Kaylee bites her lip, thinking. “I mean, why don’t you just build her something?”

Emma blushes. “Her? Uh, her who?”

“I’m not a moron, you know. Most people don’t wander around a military base looking for flowers unless there’s someone they need to give them to.”

“Yeah, well…” Emma looks at the ground, scuffing her boots against the floor. She shrugs her shoulders. “I want to do something real. Not just ‘look what I threw together in my spare time at work’.” Emma pauses, staring off in the distance past Kaylee. “Unless…” She pats Kaylee on the arm. “Thank you!”

“I didn’t do anything,” Kaylee protests as Emma turns and sprints down the hallway.

* * *

Alyssa grabs Captain Shelby Gonzales before she can walk past her. “Hey.”

“Ow. ...Hi?”

“I need you to do me a favor.”

Shelby sighs. “Lys, for the hundredth time, I’m not making glow-in-the-dark paint for your plane. It might look cool, but it would be pointless.”

“First of all, you’re mean. Second of all, that’s not what I want. Can you get into the warehouse they have Emma set up in?”

“What definition of ‘get into’ are you implying? If I blow up a door again, Barry is going to lock me in the barracks for a month.”

“I’m sure you have something that can, I don’t know, melt a doorknob or something?” Alyssa frowns. “It’s just… Emma’s been holed up in there for a week. I’m starting to get worried.”

“Have you tried just… knocking?”

Alyssa stares blankly at her.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Shelby sighs. “Were you always this hopeless or did we just need to find a dorkier, more Irish Emma Nolan?”

“I-I’m not… I’m not  _ hopeless…” _

“Sure.” Shelby grabs Alyssa wrist and starts dragging her towards the warehouse. “If that’s what you want to tell yourself.”

“Shel…  _ Shelby!” _ Alyssa tries to free her wrist. “You can’t just… I’m not…”

“Look, dumbass, if you want to talk to your girl-”

“-she is  _ not  _ my-”

“-just knock on the fricking door and  _ talk to her.” _ Shelby stops in front of the door to the warehouse and bangs her fist against it a few times.

The slightly frazzled voice of Emma Nolan says,  _ “Uh. Yeah?” _

“Hey, Nolan! Greene wants you!”

_ “Uh… What?” _

Alyssa slaps Shelby’s arm as she snickers.

“I mean she wants to talk to you!”

_ “Oh. Uh. I’m busy.” _

Alyssa gestures at the door. “See?” she whispers.

Shelby rolls her eyes. “Too bad!” She takes a handful of keys off of her belt and unlocks the door.

_ “Hey!” _

“Hey!” Alyssa says. “You had that this whole time!”

“Well, yeah, but this was more fun.” Shelby winks at her. “Now, if you don’t mind, Alyssa, I have some  _ very important chemistry _ to get to.”

Alyssa stares at her. “That’s just code for making out with Kaylee, isn’t it?”

“Why no, of course not, it’s my job.” Shelby smirks. “You kids have fun now.”

Alyssa shakes her head as Shelby, laughing, jogs away. She turns and rests her forehead against the door to the warehouse. “Em,” she says softly. “Can I please come in? I haven’t seen you in days. I’m getting worried.”

There’s a long pause on the other side of the door.  _ “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” _

Alyssa opens the door slowly and steps inside.

Her breath catches so hard in her throat that her chest hurts.

“Oh my God,” she whispers.

Emma is sitting on the wing of the rebuilt plane, a welding torch in her hand, the mask pushed up now that it’s off. The plane is almost completely restored, clean metal along its frame, the propellers looking like new.

“It’s not finished yet,” Emma says quietly, disconnecting the torch from its power source and setting it down before she hops off the wing to the ground. “Still needs a few parts, and I don’t want to repaint it until I figure out what I want to do with the engine. But. Well.” She makes an awkward motion towards the plane with her hands as if presenting it. “Ta da.”

“I-It… It looks almost exactly the same as it did the first time I flew it,” Alyssa whispers, taking a few steps forward.

“Yeah, uhm. You said that it mattered to you, so I’ve been spending these past few days getting it as close to its former glory as I can. I found a picture of what it looked like when you learned to fly, and then I-” Emma breaks off as tears come to Alyssa’s eyes. “Oh, God. I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“No. No.” Alyssa swallows. “It’s a hell of an opening move, Nolan.”

Emma gives a nervous laugh. “Yeah, uh. I’m not sure it was the best decision, because I don’t think I can do anything more impressive than this, but… I’ll try.”

“You don’t need to,” Alyssa says softly. She closes the distance between them and sets her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Em, this is already more than I could ever ask for. How did you even do this so fast?”

“It just worked. I was working and everything made sense.” Emma closes her eyes and rests her forehead against Alyssa’s. “I-I… I feel like I belong here, Lys. I don’t understand it. I don’t know what to do with it. But every single day that I’m here I feel more and more that this was where I was meant to be all along. That you’re who I’m meant to be with. I-I… I know it sounds strange. But my heart, my soul, everything about me just… feels like this is home. And that’s terrifying, because I don’t know what I’m supposed to do if-”

“Shh,” Alyssa whispers, silencing her with a gentle finger against her lips. “Maybe we… Maybe it won’t be forever, but maybe it can be. And even if it isn’t, I won’t regret having time with you now.”

Emma swallows and leans up, pressing a soft kiss to Alyssa’s forehead. “Neither will I.”

“Go to dinner with me? Tonight? There’s a restaurant in town that I’d like to take you to.”

“I don’t think I’m allowed off-base.”

“Barry would let you as long as you’re with someone who can show you around.” Alyssa sets her arms on Emma’s shoulders, linking her hands behind her neck. “Please?”

Emma nods. “Of course.”

Alyssa looks up at the plane, her grip at the back of Emma’s neck tightening. “It’s already beautiful. I can’t even imagine how beautiful it will be when it’s finished.”

Emma gives her a soft smile. “I’ll do my very best.”


	9. blue

Alyssa sighs heavily as she stares down at the twisted and blackened wreckage that was once her car. “I know Barry said that he’s getting in some replacements, but… damn, I’ll miss this car.” She puts her hands on her hips, thinking, but she’s distracted when she notices Shelby staring at her. “...What?”

Shelby pauses, smirking. “Did you have sex?”

“What? No. Why the hell would you ask me that?”

“Well, Alyssa, there’s a hickey on your neck.”

Alyssa’s hand goes to the side of her neck, and she pales. “I-I…” She flips up the collar of her shirt. “Shut up. That doesn’t need to mean I had sex.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t. But  _ something _ must have happened.” Shelby puts her hands in her pockets and takes a step forward. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I… To be perfectly honest, Shelby, I don’t really know what I’d be talking about. I kissed Emma. I kissed her a  _ lot.  _ That’s really all there is to it.”

“Hm.” Shelby picks up a couple of bolts that seem undamaged.

“What’s _ that  _ mean?”

“I just said ‘hm’. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Shelby.” Alyssa folds her arms across her chest. “I’ve known you long enough to know that it does, in fact,  _ mean something.” _

Shelby shrugs. “I guess I just don’t see how kissing someone who looks identical to someone you  _ don’t like _ can be so simple.”

“Well… She’s not… She’s not the same.” Alyssa looks away. “I can’t explain it, Shelby. She’s just different. I… I think I might…” She shakes her head. “She’s fun, okay? It’s fun to kiss her.”

“Okay. I can understand that.” Shelby picks up another few bolts. “Question for you, though. What happens if she gets sent back where she belongs?”

Alyssa feels a shiver run up her spine. “It’ll be fine,” she murmurs. “We’re just having fun with each other. If we get the other Emma back, she doesn’t even need to know about it.”

“First of all, if we get the other Emma back, you  _ are _ going to tell her, because it’s a dick move to have a relationship with her doppelganger and then lie to her about it.”

“It’s not a  _ relationsh-” _

“Second of all,” Shelby interrupts, “I think you need to really consider whether you’re being honest with yourself. Because if she disappears and you  _ haven’t _ been, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“I’m fine, Shelby.” Alyssa grits her teeth and turns to walk out of the garage. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”

* * *

“I have a question for you,” Barry says, his arm around Emma’s shoulders as they walk towards a garage on the other side of the facility. “How did you like that race against Alyssa the other day?”

“I enjoyed it quite a bit, sir. Er, I mean, Barry.” Emma hooks her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans. “It was fun, and challenging, and exactly the kind of mildly reckless work I’ve always enjoyed.”

“Maybe try not to get yourself killed, but I do see that you enjoy it. And you’re good at it, too. I’m wondering if you’d like to be part of the team, at least for as long as you can be.”

“You’d want that?” Emma asks, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“I would. Shelby has been fixing up my Hudson Hornet for a while. It’s almost finished. If you’d like, I’d trust you with it as a bit of a probation period, and then I’d be willing to order you a car of your own if you show your skill consistently.” He stops and turns her to face him, a serious look in his eyes. “I don’t need you to  _ impress _ me, Nolan. Understood? Just prove that you’ll do good work. I don’t need a dead showoff.”

Emma is silent for a long moment, then nods. “I understand. Really, Barry, I do.”

“Good.” He pats her on the cheek, an almost paternal show of affection that makes her swallow nervously. “I’ll let you know when the car is ready.”

Barry turns and leaves, and Emma watches him before staring down at the dirt.

* * *

Alyssa walks out of the garage and freezes.

Emma is standing on one of the paths a few feet away, looking troubled, wearing dark boots, black jeans, an orange flannel, and a black leather jacket.

She takes in a slow breath to calm herself before walking forward. “You okay, Nolan? You look more confused than usual.”

Emma blinks and doesn’t make eye contact. “Uh… sure. Yeah. I’m… I’m fine.” She rubs the back of her neck and frowns. “I think… I think I’m going to just go get some air.”

“We’re outside.”

“Some… different air.”

Alyssa watches with a frown as Emma walks away, her shoulders hunched.

* * *

Alyssa steps out onto the balcony of the small apartment above the offices of the testing facility. “It took me forever to find you,” she murmurs, sitting next to Emma on a bench. “I probably should’ve guessed that you’d be back where you’ve been staying.”

“Why am I staying?” Emma asks softly.

“What do you mean?”

“Something put me here, is keeping me here, and I just don’t understand it. I know you didn’t get along with the other me, but I can tell that you respected her anyway. The way Barry talks to me, the way he looks at me… it’s like sometimes he forgets he’s talking to someone else. He cared about her a lot, and I’ll never be a replacement for that. I’m just some reckless idiot who likes a challenge.”

“That’s not…” Alyssa clears her throat and stares awkwardly straight ahead. “You’re not just a reckless idiot.”

Emma gives a strained laugh. “Not  _ just, _ huh?”

“Hey, you annoy me, give me a break.” Alyssa pauses, then reaches over and sets her hand on top of Emma’s. “It’s not your fault, you know. Whatever brought you here. It’s not your fault. Everyone here understands that. Barry loves the other you like she was his own kid, but that doesn’t mean he blames you. And it doesn’t mean he expects you to be her.”

“I don’t want to disappoint anyone,” Emma murmurs. “I know I can be… well, intense. But I really don’t want to disappoint anyone, Alyssa. I feel like I belong here. It doesn’t make any sense, but I feel like everything makes sense. But it’s… it’s selfish to want to stay, isn’t it? To take someone else’s place? To want to be here when people will miss the person I’m not?”

Alyssa is quiet for a long moment, still keeping her gaze forward. “I don’t know,” she admits.

Emma pauses, then turns her head. “Whatever. Can’t do anything about it, right? Who needs this kind of talk bringing the mood down, anyway.”

“Nolan…”

“It’s fine. I just needed to vent a bit.” She gives Alyssa a cocky grin. “Wanna make out?”

For a moment, she considers trying to further the conversation, until she sees the hint of pleading in Emma’s eyes. Alyssa leans in, kissing her.

Emma makes a soft noise that’s almost a whimper and kisses back, the fingers of one of her hands threading in Alyssa’s hair.

When they break to breathe, Emma mumbles, “I’d make a joke about my bedroom being right there, but I don’t really want to be slapped again.”

Alyssa stares at her for a moment, so close she can’t even see Emma’s lips. “Emma.”

“Hm?”

Alyssa stands up. “Make the joke.”

Emma blinks up at her in confusion. “Uhm. My bed’s right there if you… want to… What am I doing this for, Alyssa?”

Alyssa grabs the collar of her leather jacket and pulls her to her feet, kissing her again, this time more roughly. “So I had an excuse.”

“An excuse for wh-”

Before Emma can even finish the sentence, Alyssa opens the balcony door and drags her into the apartment.


	10. orange

“This place is so beautiful,” Emma murmurs, staring out the window of Alyssa’s car as they head off the base and into the city.

“What are the cities like where you’re from?”

“Ah. Nothing like this. Lots of smog, really. This reminds me more of where I was born, oddly enough. It’s more like farmland than city.” Emma gives a quiet laugh. “It’s so green.”

“They got rid of most coal and oil power sources before I was born. There’s still a type of fuel that we put in engines as a backup, but it’s not oil-based.”

Emma whistles softly as they drive past a building lined with huge solar panels. “Is it all solar, then?”

“A lot of it. Most generators are wind-powered for those weeks where the weather stays cloudy for a while. We’re also near a lot of rivers and lakes, so a lot of places are water-powered. The restaurant we’re going to is actually exclusively powered by its water wheel.”

“What I wouldn’t give to see how that works,” Emma says softly.

Alyssa grins at her. “I know the owner. If you promise to put it back together, maybe I can convince her to let you tinker around with it on a day they’re closed.”

Emma turns to look at her, expression so endearingly eager that Alyssa almost breaks their deal and kisses her right there. “Really?”

“Really.” Alyssa sets her free hand on top of Emma’s. “You really do love all this stuff, don’t you?”

“I just like learning,” Emma says with a shrug. “I couldn’t afford to go to school, so I had to teach myself whatever I could however I could. I’ve loved it all.”

“If you stay,” Alyssa says softly, “I’ll make sure you can learn whatever you want to learn.”

Emma stays silent for a long moment, her hand turning over and clutching Alyssa’s with a faint desperation. “I’d love to,” she whispers.

* * *

Emma gets out of the car in front of a small, quiet restaurant next to a river. She slides across the hood before Alyssa can open her door and opens it for her.

Alyssa laughs and kisses her on the cheek. “You’re such a nerd.”

“I do try,” Emma replies with a grin.

“You know, my brain was a bit too blank to mention it earlier, but you clean up nicely,” Alyssa murmurs, brushing her hands over Emma’s shoulders as she looks down at the pale blue button-down and black tie.

“I-I wasn’t really sure if this was okay with the jeans, but the only dress pants I had access to were the other Emma’s military dress uniform pants, and that felt really wrong, but I didn’t have anywhere I could go get a pair of my own, and-”

Alyssa taps a finger against Emma’s lips to silence her. “Em. You look fine. You look  _ great.” _

“I’m nervous,” Emma admits quietly, rubbing her hands together. “Terrified, even. Everything about you feels so right, Alyssa, and I-I… I don’t want to ruin it.”

“You could never ruin it.” Alyssa sets her palm against Emma’s cheek. “Never. Okay? I… I’m already falling for you, Emma Nolan, and that’s terrifying because I might not be allowed to keep you. But I’m not going to forbid myself from feeling the way I do.”

Emma leans forward, resting her forehead against Alyssa’s. “I’m so far gone for you. It’s strange in some ways. I could never imagine falling for the Alyssa I knew. Our personalities were never in sync. She drove me insane. Frustrating, cocky, overbearing…”

“Funny,” Alyssa says with a soft laugh. “Sounds like why I never liked the Emma I knew.”

“It just makes me wonder how things might’ve been different. If this had been my universe and mine had been hers. Would I still have found you? Or are we just doomed to be perfect for the wrong universe’s versions of each other?”

Alyssa swallows and doesn’t answer.

Emma takes a step back. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “This is supposed to be a nice night, and here I am being a downer.”

“No. Well, yes, it is a bit depressing, but it’s an important thing to talk about.” Alyssa gently squeezes her hand. “Just… Do you think maybe we can talk about it tomorrow? Save tonight for pretending we can be us and nothing will ever stop it?”

Emma gives her a small smile and presses a kiss to her forehead. “I’d be glad to.”

“Good.” Alyssa tugs her hand a little. “Then let’s have dinner, shall we?”

They walk towards the restaurant, and Emma notices a woman standing in the doorway waiting for them.

“Emma Nolan,” Alyssa says, a bit shyly, “this is Veronica Greene, the owner of this establishment. This is my mother.”

Emma’s eyes widen, just slightly, and she holds her hand out. “It’s an honor to meet you, ma’am.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. Nolan,” Mrs. Greene says as she shakes Emma’s hand. “Alyssa has told me a lot about you.”

“Alyssa hasn’t told me much about you, I’m afraid, but I’ll be happy to learn if she’ll let me.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes and bumps her shoulder against Emma, who laughs.

“I’m sure something can be arranged,” Mrs. Greene replies with a smile. She takes a step back, holding open the door. “Come on in.”

* * *

“Thank you for opening the place up for me, Mom,” Alyssa says quietly as she helps her mother wash dishes. “I know you prefer to have your day off.”

“It’s not a problem at all, honey. Honestly, when I heard the way you were talking about this girl, I had to see her for myself. I wasn’t sure she was real.”

Alyssa lightly smacks Mrs. Greene’s arm.

“Can you blame me?” Mrs. Greene asks with a laugh. “You were so excited I didn’t think it was possible. You’ve never been this excited about… I think  _ anything  _ before.”

“I like her,” Alyssa murmurs, looking over at Emma, on the floor working on a broken oven. “God, Mom, I think I love her.”

Mrs. Greene puts her arm around Alyssa’s shoulders and squeezes. “For what it’s worth? Out of anyone you’ve ever dated, this is the first time I’ve actually met someone who I think might be worth my daughter. She’s a good one, isn’t she?”

Alyssa swallows and nods. “More than you know.”

Emma gives a laugh of triumph and stands up, closing the oven door. As she puts her shirt back over her black undershirt, she says, “That should do the trick.”

“You fixed it?” Mrs. Greene asks, stunned.

“Well, I think so. It can go up to 400 Celsius. Will that work?” Emma winces. “Sorry, uh, I think that’s about 750 Fahrenheit.”

Mrs. Greene gapes at her.

“Did I… do something wrong?” Emma asks slowly.

Alyssa bites back a laugh. “That oven is only supposed to go to 500 Fahrenheit.”

“Oh.” Emma looks down at it. “Whoops.” She rubs the back of her neck. “Uh… I can fix that.”

Mrs. Greene turns to Alyssa, also clearly trying to stop herself from laughing. “Well. I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“When you live with her, you’ll need to get her a dog or something to occupy her otherwise she might accidentally burn your house down.”

Alyssa smiles, but she doesn’t laugh as she watches Emma crouch back down to readjust her work.

* * *

“You were quiet the whole way from the city,” Emma says softly as they walk back to the barracks. “Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing you did,” Alyssa says, reassuring. “My mother just… She offhandedly made a joke about us living together someday, and…”

“And you don’t know if that will ever happen,” Emma murmurs.

“Yeah.” Alyssa rubs at her eyes and sighs. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m the one who wanted to keep the night free of all this.”

“It’s okay, Lys.” Emma presses a kiss to the side of Alyssa’s head. “I swear it’s okay.”

They stop in front of the door of the barracks.

“I was going to go work for a few hours, but if you want to talk about this, I can wait until tomorrow.” Emma brushes some hair behind Alyssa’s ear. “I don’t want you to be upset.”

“I’m not upset. Not really. Just a little sad.” Alyssa rests her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Nothing that overtakes how much I enjoyed tonight.”

Emma ducks her head, blushing. “Well. Good. I had a great time. I-I, uh… Does that mean I get to keep courting you?”

Alyssa gives a soft laugh. “It means you had  _ better _ keep courting me, Emma Nolan.”

They stand there in silence, both shivering as a chilly breeze brushes over them.

“Emma,” Alyssa whispers. “Why don’t you ask if you can kiss me?”

Emma swallows and pauses before she meets Alyssa’s gaze. “To be honest, Lys, I’ve never kissed anyone before.” She laughs nervously. “I’m a tad anxious I’ll be bad at it.”

“I’m not sure it’s actually possible for you to be bad at anything.” Alyssa slides one hand up, resting it against Emma’s cheek. “Emma. Can  _ I _ kiss  _ you?” _

Emma swallows again, then nods.

“I need you to say it, Em.”

“Yes,” Emma says. “Yes, Alyssa.”

Alyssa pauses only briefly, then leans forward and kisses her, softly, slowly.

Emma is tense for a moment, unsure of what to do, then lets her brain shut off and kisses back.

Alyssa’s other hand comes up to cup Emma’s jaw as she gently pulls back, almost frowning when she thinks she sees a small orange light flicker through Emma’s dazed eyes. She shakes it off and smiles. “You okay there, Nolan?”

“Huh? Oh.” Emma clears her throat, flushing. “Uhm. Y-Yeah.”

“Was that okay?”

“Building a radio is okay. That was beyond description.”

Alyssa laughs and bumps her forehead gently against Emma’s. “Oh,” she groans quietly, “if only I could keep you here and kiss you all night.”

“Why can’t you?” Emma asks, her eyes dark.

Alyssa pushes her back and rolls her eyes. “You said you have work to do. There will be plenty of time to kiss me later.”

“Plenty of time to do work later, too.”

She sets her fingers against Emma’s lips. “You’re cute. But I know you. You’ll regret it if we don’t do this right. If we don’t take our time and do things right.”

Emma’s eyes soften, and she nods. “You’re right.” She takes a small step back, putting distance between them. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alyssa.”

“See you tomorrow, Emma.”

They turn away from each other and start to walk in opposite directions, until Alyssa hears a sharp, surprised cry of pain. She whirls back around, and sees Emma leaning against a lamppost, orange and blue sparks traveling up and down her body.

“Emma?” Alyssa takes a few steps closer, baffled. “Emma, what the hell is-”

“Don’t,” Emma gasps, giving her a desperate look. “Alyssa, please, don’t come closer.”

“Why…” Alyssa watches the sparks start to travel up the lamp, to the bulb at the top, which starts to glow brighter and brighter, an angry white-yellow. “Oh, God,” she whispers. “No. Please, no.”

The sparks increase in frequency, and Emma yells, her head snapping back hard enough that her skull makes a sickening noise against the post. Alyssa gets closer, and Emma, through gritted teeth, spits,  _ “No!  _ Please, Lys, you don’t know what it’ll do to you.”

“We have a pretty good idea what it’ll do to you, though. Emma, please, I can’t-”

The light gets so bright that she can’t even see Emma anymore, and Alyssa, in a reckless panic, runs forward.


	11. blue

“Where’re’y goin’?”

Alyssa turns and flushes as she sees Emma, drowsy and only half-awake, sit up and sleepily blink at her. “I, uh, was going to go for a run.”

Emma frowns and picks up the clock on her nightstand, holding it way too close to her face. “S’three inna mornin’.” She lays back down with a soft huff. “C’m’back t’bed, ‘Lyssa.”

She waits until she hears Emma fall back asleep, then gathers the rest of her clothes and slips out of the apartment.

* * *

Kaylee is in the middle of polishing the hood of her car when Alyssa grabs her by the collar of her jacket and pulls her into the corner of the garage.

“Fuck, Greene, what the hell is-”

“I think I made a mistake. A very big mistake.”

Kaylee looks at something over Alyssa’s shoulder. “Let me guess. It’s the actually more medium-sized mistake who’s looking at you like a kicked puppy.”

“What…” Alyssa turns her head and sees Emma walking into the garage, indeed looking like a kicked puppy as she goes over to the Hudson Hornet that Shelby is working on.

“I think you broke her. I’ve never seen her miserable before. What did you do to her?”

Alyssa puts her hands in her pockets and shrugs. “We had sex. I, uh, wasn’t there when she woke up.”

Kaylee winces. “Ouch. I know she’s a bit of a bastard, but that’s a little harsh.”

“Yeah, I know, but I was freaking out a little bit.” Alyssa sighs. “I don’t know why I slept with her.”

Kaylee raises an eyebrow. “Uh… Well. I mean. You probably slept with her because you have feelings for her.”

“I do not have  _ feelings _ for  _ Emma Nolan.” _

“...Sure.” Kaylee sighs and shakes her head. “Look, when Shelby started courting me, I thought that there was no way I could have  _ feelings, _ either. I thought she was just my best friend. That was all it was, right? But I was an idiot, and I was wrong.”

Alyssa just stares blankly at her.

“Lys. Please tell me that you knew Shelby and I are together.”

Alyssa just keeps staring at her.

“My God, you really  _ are _ dense. You and this Nolan are perfect for each other.”

“Oh… Shut up,” Alyssa mumbles, watching Emma take a look under the hood of the Hudson Hornet.

“Seriously though, Alyssa,” Kaylee says quietly. “I think you need to really consider what you want. You’ll only hurt yourself  _ and _ Nolan if you don’t.”

* * *

“What are we looking for?” Emma asks, pulling her leather jacket more firmly around her as she and Alyssa walk through a small street market.

“Nothing in particular. I just wanted to get away for a little while. I needed to think.”

Emma grins at her. “I’m  _ great _ at helping people think.”

Alyssa sighs heavily. “I shouldn’t have brought you.”

“I’m glad you did, though. It was cool to see what your version of a motorcycle is like.” Emma turns and leans in a bit closer. “The riders can get real nice and close on those, huh?”

“Stop,” Alyssa mumbles, blushing.

She’s actually a little surprised when Emma sidesteps and puts some distance between them. “Are you okay?” Emma asks softly. “You haven’t really talked to me since we went to bed together. I know it was your first time, Greene, but if I did something that upset you, I’d like to know. I know I’m an ass, but I kind of prefer it if people  _ enjoy _ their experience with me.”

“You didn’t… You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? I-I…” Alyssa flushes pink. “Believe me, I enjoyed it. Quite a bit. I just… I can’t wrap my head around you. I don’t understand it. Nothing ever felt right about the other you, ever. Nothing about us ever clicked even in a friendly way. But you, I… I threw out my whole idea of what I thought I wanted in terms of courting just because I wanted you. Physically, I mean. Wanted you physically.”

Emma gives a small smirk. “I understood.”

Alyssa clears her throat and laughs awkwardly. “Maybe I just really didn’t like the Irish accent.”

“The other me was from Ireland?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Huh.” Emma puts her hands in her pockets as they continue walking. “I was born there. It wasn’t really a great place at the time, though. Some conflicts and fights. There was an explosion at the hospital the day I was born; they figured it was an attack, but thankfully nobody got hurt. It still freaked my mom out. She and a few others from my family moved to America not long after.”

“Funny how one thing can completely change somebody’s trajectory.” Alyssa stops next to a booth selling vinyl records.

“Oh, cool. Uhm. DVDs,” Emma says hesitantly.

The vendor gives her a strange look.

“She’s Canadian,” Alyssa says, as if it’s an explanation. She puts her hand over Emma’s mouth and pulls her away from the booth. “Okay. I really need to give you a crash course in what stuff is around here. You’re really out of touch.”

Emma moves her head so that Alyssa’s hand slides down to her jaw. “I seem to be  _ very _ in touch at the moment, actually.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes and presses a quick kiss to Emma’s lips. “You’re so fricking annoying.”

“I know,” Emma says with a grin.

* * *

When they get back to the facility, Alyssa gets off of the bike first. Emma steals the key from her and slides forward, turning it back on.

“Hey!” Alyssa protests.

“Come on, Greene. Don’t you want to go for another ride? We could go out to the desert… make out for a little bit… have some fun…”

Alyssa shakes her head, trying not to smile. “Maybe some other time.” She brushes her fingers up Emma’s jaw and kisses her slowly. When she leans back, she sees a flicker of blue light in Emma’s eyes, but it’s gone before she can figure out what she’s looking at. She frowns. “Are you okay?”

Emma’s brow furrows. “Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing. Just… I thought I saw something.”

“There’s not much in there but interest, Greene. Sorry to disappoint.”

Alyssa laughs and gently smacks her shoulder. “Put the bike away, Nolan.” She starts to walk away, until she hears a sharp whimper of pain.

She turns around and sees Emma tightly gripping the handlebars of the motorcycle, her whole body tense as blue and orange sparks course over her body.

“Emma?” Alyssa whispers.

Emma shakes her head, groaning as more sparks make her tremble. She lifts her head and looks at Alyssa, fear in her eyes. “Alyssa. I always have had terrible timing.” Emma grits her teeth. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Alyssa pales. “What?”

Without a response, Emma revs the motorcycle into gear, spins it around, and speeds out of the facility towards the desert.

She realizes what’s happening a second before she sees the flash of fire.

* * *

**???**

Emma opens her eyes and finds herself standing in an empty gray room. She looks down and finds herself still dressed in her orange flannel and leather jacket, but she doesn’t recognize the room she’s in at all.

When she looks up, she’s facing… herself.

No. Her  _ other _ self.

The Emma with slightly longer hair, with no scar on her jaw, wearing a pale blue button-down and black tie.

“Huh,” Emma says, looking her up and down. “This is weird.”

“Agreed.” The other Emma points between them. “But why can we see each other? Last time, I took your place.”

“And I took yours.”

“So what happened this time?”

“Emma.”

They turn and notice Alyssa standing in the room, in nice clothes as if she was on a date. She hugs the Emma in the dress shirt tightly, holding her for a long moment before pulling back and kissing her.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Alyssa whispers.

The Emma in the flannel shirt frowns. “Oh, what the fuck. Are you serious?  _ Her?” _

Alyssa looks at her and pauses. “...Nolan?”

Emma’s lip curls. “Yeah. Seriously, Greene? Come on. I don’t need to watch you kissing someone who looks like me.”

“Hey,” the other Emma says, taking a step between her and Alyssa. “Back off.”

“Yeah?” Emma closes the distance between them, glaring. “You’re a mechanic. What are you gonna do?”

Alyssa sighs heavily. “Why does this not even surprise me?”

A door opens, and a middle-aged woman with dark hair steps into the room. She pauses, looking between the two Emmas on the verge of a fistfight. She sighs. “I’m not surprised,” she mutters. She shakes her head and closes the door.

“Who are you?” Alyssa asks.

“Doesn’t matter.” She folds her arms across her chest and gives a thin smile. “Welcome to the Red Universe.”


	12. red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, pilot!Emma and pilot!Alyssa are identified with bold font, and mechanic!Emma and driver!Alyssa are identified with underlined font.

For what seems like eternity, no one says anything.

Then **Emma** says, “Bullshit.”

The woman laughs. “I assure you, it’s quite true.”

“Why would we be here?”  Emma  asks. “Last time we just switched.”

“Ah, well, you were brought here on purpose.” The woman turns and heads for the door. “Come with me, please.”

Emma  and **Alyssa** exchange a glance, then shrug. They follow the woman, **Alyssa’s** hand sliding comfortably into  Emma’s  . **Emma** pauses before joining them, shaking her head.

“I still can’t believe this,” she mutters.

The woman doesn’t even glance back as she says, “You should probably be more careful of your words, since you’re involved with the other Alyssa.”

Emma  glares at her counterpart. “Seriously? Wow. You’re going to give **Alyssa** a hard time for kissin’ me, but you went and kissed the other one?”

“Didn’t just kiss her,” **Emma** mutters.

Emma  stops walking. “Excuse me?”

“You’re already throwing yourself all over the asshole I used to fly with, what, do you want the one you used to be a mechanic for, too? She doesn’t like you! You can’t have her!”

“I don’t want that jackass, but you’re over the line! If you think I’m afraid to punch my own face, you’ve got another thing coming!”

**Emma** laughs. “I’m sure that comeback sounded a lot better in your head.”

The woman grabs them both by their collars and pulls them away from each other, giving them both a hard shake like misbehaving puppies she’s holding by the scruff of the neck. “That’s enough. Both of you.” She sighs heavily. “I _ knew _ it wouldn’t be a good idea to let multiple versions interact. Especially not you two. I’ve never seen more polar opposite personalities amongst the Emma Nolans of two universes before.”

**Alyssa** looks up sharply. “Wait. Does that mean you’ve met _ more?” _

“The same thing happened to the ones from the Yellow Universe and the Purple Universe. They were far less volatile.”

“Why the hell does this keep happening to _us?”_ Emma asks.

The woman gives a thin smile. “I’ll show you.”

* * *

“Oh, God,” **Alyssa** whispers as they walk into a room with a huge sphere of rotating energy in the center of it. “That looks like… a _ far _ bigger version of what we put in the experimental engines.”

“Because it is.” Another woman walks towards them, about the same age as the first, pushing wireframe glasses up on her nose. “The exposure to this element here was how we were able to swap the two Emmas between the Blue and Orange Universes.”

“This is Dr. Becker,” the first woman introduces. “She’s an astrophysicist who works at the facility here, studying multiverse theory.”

Emma  laughs. “Theory, huh?”

Dr. Becker grins. “It’s theory… in theory.” She folds her arms across her chest. “I actually came here from the Green Universe. The action caused a ripple, a fracture of sorts, and it screwed things up for the two of you, as well as some others.”

**Emma’s** brow furrows. “But… why _ us? _ Why would what you did have any effect on us?”

Dr. Becker’s grin widens. “Think about it.”

**Emma** just stares blankly at her.

Emma’s  jaw drops, and she exchanges a stunned glance with **Alyssa**. “You’re… You _ are _ us.”

**Emma** blinks at her. “Huh?”

“She’s _ us.” _

Dr. Becker laughs. “In a way. I’m the Green Universe Emma Nolan. I changed my last name when I came here.”

“But… how come you aren’t the same age as us?” **Alyssa** asks.

“The universes don’t all run on the same timeline. Hell, you two in the Orange Universe have been together for four weeks, and the other two in the Blue Universe have been together for five weeks, even though the swap occurred at the exact same moment.”

“It’s been four weeks?”  Emma  turns to **Alyssa**. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long at all. Everything just blended together..”

**Emma** frowns. “You know, looking back, the days did just… blur.”

The first woman gives a soft smile. “You felt like you belonged, didn’t you? Everything felt right? Natural?”

“Yeah.”** Emma** shrugs. “Why?”

“Because you do belong there,” Dr. Becker says quietly. She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. “I fucked up.”

“No,” the first woman murmurs. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” She takes in a breath. “There’s something that you should know. Emma Nolan and Alyssa Greene? Soulmates. No matter the universe. They’ll find each other, and they’re made for each other, and nobody else will ever feel quite right.”

**Alyssa** takes a small step closer to  Emma , leaning against her arm.

**Emma’s** jaw goes tense, and she folds her arms across her chest.

“The thing is, uhm… The Green Universe’s Alyssa…” Dr. Becker swallows. “She died. The day I met her. Just a freak accident. And afterwards, it felt like my whole heart had shattered. Like my soul was broken. I couldn’t figure it out. It was sad, sure, but I had only known the girl for a day. It didn’t make sense to me that it would affect me that badly.

“I started doing research. It was the only thing I could think to do. First with normal things, then with… less so. When I came up with the soulmate theory, I thought I had lost it, but the deeper I dug the more it made sense. So I… came up with an unconventional solution to a conventional problem. To be quite blunt, I tried figuring out ways to bring someone back from the dead. Instead, I found someone else reaching out. I found another universe. Another Alyssa Greene.”

The first woman’s gaze is soft. “The same exact thing had happened to me. The Red Universe’s Emma died the day I met her, and when I reached out…” She gives Dr. Becker an affectionate look. “I found hope for the pain in my soul.”

**Alyssa **stares at her. “You’re me,” she whispers.

The woman winks at her. “In a way. I’m Alyssa Becker, of the Red Universe.”

“Aly and I started communicating across universes,” Dr. Becker says. “We… fell in love. Unconventionally, to say the least. And we started figuring out a plan to bring me to her. We did. It worked. But it had a ripple effect across the multiverse. Every other Emma Nolan was affected.” She sighs and rubs the back of her neck. “I thought that maybe it would be okay. After all, I had fallen in love with a different Alyssa. Maybe it didn’t matter which universe half the pair came from? But I realized rather quickly that it didn’t work that way. In some universes the soulmate bond is just too strong.”

“So…”  Emma  rubs at her temples. “So you’re… You’re saying that I was supposed to be with **Alyssa** this whole time. That’s why everything about her feels so right.”

Alyssa Becker nods. “You were raised in the Blue Universe, but you were born in the Orange Universe.”

“Great for them. Bullshit for me.” **Emma** starts pacing, irritation in every step. “You’re saying  Alyssa’s  my soulmate? I think you’ve got the wrong fucking Emma Nolan.”

“What is wrong with you?” **Alyssa** demands. “I have never seen you this pissed off.”

“She doesn’t love me,” **Emma ** snarls, rounding on **Alyssa** , eyes burning. “Okay? She liked the sex well enough, but she _ does not _ love me. And you know, **Greene,** I’m happy you’ve found who you belong to, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to go back with all of this in my head on top of knowing that I’ll never be what she wants.”

**“Nolan,”** **Alyssa** murmurs, taking a small step forward.

**Emma** shakes her head, turning and walking out of the room.

“She’ll be alright,”  Emma  whispers, taking **Alyssa’s** hand and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “If she’s anything like me at all, she’ll be alright.” She looks at Dr. Becker. “What happens now?”

“Well. You know the truth. But you still spent a good portion of your life in the other universe. I don’t want to just force you to go somewhere else just because it’s where you were born.” Dr. Becker puts her hands into the pockets of her denim shirt. “I’m going to have all four of you - both Orange Universe Emma and Alyssa and Blue Universe Emma and Alyssa - in each universe for one week each, all together. You’ll have time to decide what you want. Then you can let me know, and I’ll organize whatever switches need to take place. Okay?”

Emma  and **Alyssa** look at each other for a long moment, then they both nod. “Where will we go first?”  Emma  asks.

“The Blue Universe. Where you grew up.” Dr. Becker looks at the door **Emma** left through. “Maybe our counterpart will be able to find some peace there.”


	13. blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, pilot!Emma and pilot!Alyssa are identified with bold font, and mechanic!Emma and driver!Alyssa are identified with underlined font.

They appear in the center of the facility, right in front of Kaylee Klein.

She pauses, blinks, then lets out a sigh of relief when her gaze lands on **Emma.** “Thank God. You need to come with me. Now.” Kaylee grabs **Emma** by the wrist and drags her away from the group and towards one of the garages.

Emma  and **Alyssa** exchange a glance, then follow.

+++++

“This is fucking insane,” Shelby says, for possibly the hundredth time. “You’re going to die. Do you understand that? If you blow this engine up, _ on purpose, while you are near it, _ you will _ die.” _

“I won’t,”  Alyssa  mutters, grabbing a wrench and fidgeting with a small copy of the experimental engine. “At least, that’s the theory. It should work. It’ll work.”

“And what if it doesn’t? What, you’ll just be dead? Great plan! You’re not getting **Nolan** back that way, do you understand that?”

“Shelby!” Kaylee’s voice yells from the front of the shop. “I have the solution to our problem.”

Shelby snorts. “Is it a fucking miracle?”

Kaylee steps into view, dragging **Emma** with her.

“Wow. It _ is _a fucking miracle.”

Alyssa  stands slowly, staring and taking a small step towards **Emma.**

**Emma** raises her hand and gives an awkward wave. “Hi.”

Two more people enter the garage, but before  Alyssa  pays any attention to them, she slaps **Emma,** hard. “You asshole,” she whispers. “You _ bastard.” _

“Okay,” **Emma **says dryly. She rubs her cheek and frowns. “Glad to see you missed me.”

Alyssa  stares at her, jaw tense, her head aching. “You… Fuck you.”

“Ouch, Greene, that’s a little harsh.”

Alyssa  glances past and sees  Emma  standing near the door, next to…

“Huh.” She looks the other **Alyssa** up and down. “That’s freaky.”

Shelby looks between all four of them. “I’m too sober to deal with this.” She shakes her head, turns, and walks out of the garage’s back door.

Kaylee snorts out a laugh and follows her.

Alyssa  stares at her counterpart for a long moment before rubbing the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. “I’m not dealing with this right now. I’m not. Whatever you want, I don’t care. Fuck it. Ask me later.”

As she turns, **Emma** grabs her hand. “ Greene, wait a minute, can we just-”

Alyssa  tugs her hand away. _ “Later!” _ she practically yells, refusing to look at any of them as she storms for the door and leaves.

“Something’s up,”  Emma  says slowly. “That’s not really like her.”

“Yeah?” **Emma** stares down at her hand, her voice quiet. “Seems just about right to me.” She turns and leaves out the other door.

**Alyssa** looks at Emma. “I’d like to see the world you grew up in. But I think we should try to sort them out first.”

“I agree. I just hope we can.”

+++++

“Watching the sky. Some things never really do change with you, huh?” **Alyssa** says as she climbs up to the balcony.

**Emma** is silent for a long moment. “I love her,” she murmurs. “I didn’t think I did, really, but I love her.”

**Alyssa** settles next to her, leaning back against the building. “I know you do. I’ve spent enough time flying with you, **Nolan,** I can generally tell when you’re lying to me and when you’re being honest.”

“A part of me still doesn’t get it. I don’t like you. How can I love her?”

**Alyssa** shoves her gently and laughs. “Gee, thanks.”

“You know what I mean,” **Emma** says grumpily.

“I do. More than you might know.”

**Emma** gives a soft sigh. “She doesn’t love me. You saw the way she looked at me. Come on, **Greene,** you know your own face. You saw that anger just as plainly as I did.”

“Yeah. And I also saw that she was about to cry. Or did you miss the tears she was fighting off?”

There’s no response.

“**Nolan,** ” **Alyssa** murmurs, patting her on the knee. “Why are you so determined to believe that  Alyssa  doesn’t feel anything for you?”

“Besides all evidence of it?”

**Alyssa** raises an eyebrow at her.

**Emma** pauses for a long moment, fidgeting with the zipper of her jacket. “Why should she?” she says softly. “I’ve got nothing to offer her.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Emma Nolan we met in the Red Universe is an astrophysicist. The one you’re in love with is a genius mechanic.” **Emma** gives a thin smile. “I know I’m an idiot, **Greene.** The only thing smart about me is my mouth, and don’t take that as a sexual joke.”

**Alyssa** rolls her eyes, but says, “Look, you’re a puppy who had too much caffeine and sugar all at the same time, but not being book smart like your alternate counterparts doesn’t make you an idiot. I’ve never seen a better pilot than you. And that includes me.”

**Emma’s** eyes widen, and she smiles slowly. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. If you ever repeat that, I’ll deny it and punch you.”

“You know, that’s fair.”

**Alyssa** looks up at the sky, watching the clouds drift over them. “I’m in love, too,” she whispers.

“Hopefully not with the same woman I am, because that would be truly disturbing.”

“I swear to God, **Nolan,** I might kill you one of these days.”

**Emma ** laughs, loudly, and after a moment **Alyssa **joins her.

+++++

“Stop following me.”

“Then stop and talk to me.”

Alyssa  pauses and turns around, glaring at  Emma  . “I don’t _ want _ to talk, Nolan. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Yeah, but you know how good I am at following directions.”  Emma  puts her hands in her pockets. “I just want to understand, okay? My counterpart there is pretty torn up over you, and it kinda hurts to see her like that. Maybe that’s a bit self-centered, I don’t really know how that works, but as hard as you can be, you don’t usually fuck around with people’s emotions on purpose.”

_“Me?”_ Alyssa takes a step forward. “Do you know what that bastard did? She had the… the _nerve_ to tell me she loved me and then drive off into the desert and get blown up! I don’t need that self-sacrificing _bullshit!_ I had half a mind to put myself into another universe just to kick her ass!”

“Why?”  Emma  asks calmly. “Because you love her?”

“Of _ course _ because I- Wait. N-No.”  Alyssa’s  eyes widen, and she takes a step back.

“Greene,” she says, her voice low and gentle. “You’re allowed to love her. You do know that, right?”

“It’s… I-I don’t,”  Alyssa  protests. “It’s just sex.” She swallows, her hands trembling so badly that she shoves them into her pockets.

“What are you so afraid of?”  Emma  murmurs, taking another small step closer. “Come on, Greene. Talk to me. Why can’t you admit what you obviously feel?”

“The universe is going to take her away,”  Alyssa  admits in a whisper. “It’ll take her away, and then what’s the point? Everything will hurt more if I let it in.”

Emma  shakes her head and steps even closer. “The universe won’t take her. That’s why we’re here. Things are changing, but we have a choice. We have to decide. And the other **Emma** needs to know that she can choose you. She thinks you don’t love her, Greene. If you keep letting her believe that, you really will lose her. She’ll have no reason to stay.”

Alyssa  looks away, and  Emma  sees tears starting to fall against her cheeks. “I’m terrified. I’ve never wanted someone as badly as I want her.”

“Then tell her that. I think you’ll have a better result than you might think.”

+++++

“What do you think?” **Alyssa** murmurs, walking through the testing facility with her arm looped through  Emma’s .

“I think they’ll be okay. They just need to talk to each other.”

**Alyssa** groans. “We only have a week, not six years.”

Emma  laughs and bumps their shoulders together. “Hey. _ We _ did pretty well.”

“Yeah, but I think we might be a statistical anomaly. I know the other you. I’m shocked she even got this far.”

“Ouch, honey, tell me what you really think.”

“I think…” **Alyssa** kisses her on the cheek. “That I love you.”

Emma’s  gaze softens. “You do?”

“I do. I love you, Emma Nolan.”

“I-”

“Hey, Nolan!”

Emma  looks over as Shelby walks over to them, Kaylee close behind her. “Gonzales.”

“We had heard that you went to another universe and fell for someone who looks exactly like Greene, but we weren’t sure we believed it.” Shelby laughs and holds her hand out to **Alyssa**. “Godspeed, honestly, this one’s as difficult to corral as a three-year-old left alone with a box of markers.”

**Alyssa** laughs and shakes her hand. “We solved that by giving her a room full of parts and just leaving her there every day.”

“Smart!”

**Alyssa** glances at  Emma  . “These are the versions of Shelby and Kaylee who _ aren’t _ married, right?” As soon as the words are out, she slaps her hand over her mouth.

“Mhm,”  Emma  says, trying not to laugh.

“I’m sorry,” Kaylee says slowly. _ “...Married?” _ She turns to Shelby. _ “Married?” _

Shelby sighs heavily. “Why? Why would you do this to me? It’s gonna be in her head now.”

**Alyssa** gives a weak grin. “Whoops.”

“Wait.”  Emma’s  brow furrows. “You guys are together?”

Shelby groans loudly. “Why are you and  Greene  both so fucking stupid? Jesus Christ!” She shakes her head and walks away, muttering under her breath.

Emma  blinks and looks at Kaylee. “What did I do?”

Kaylee is visibly fighting off a grin as she says, “Don’t worry about it,  Nolan.  Don’t worry about it.”

* * *

Emma  leans against the garage building, looking out towards the desert. “I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”

Barry, leaning next to her, laughs quietly. “No, no. Just letting you deal with what you had to deal with. I knew that if all four of you were here at once it was probably for a good reason.”

They’re both silent for a long moment. “I’m going to leave, Barry. I’m going to stay with **Alyssa.** The one I’ve been with this whole time.”  Emma  looks down, rubbing her palm with her thumb in an anxious fidget. “I love her, and I want to be with her.”

At first, he says nothing. Then he gently sets a hand on the back of her neck and whispers, “Good. You deserve to be happy, kid. You always have.”

“I don’t know if the other **Emma** will choose to stay here with our Alyssa. If she does, could you do me a favor? Could you look out for her the way you always did for me? I know it’s not the same, but… I think she’ll need somebody to go to when she needs it.”

There’s a soft sound, almost a sniffle, and Barry’s voice is thick as he says, “I will. I promise.”

“God, don’t do that, old man. Don’t make me cry. I’m not dying, you know.”

“I know. It’s still a goodbye. Let me have that, at least.”

“I can do that.”  Emma  turns and hugs him tightly. “Thank you.”

“I’m happy for you, kid. You found a home for yourself. The _ right _ home. Maybe it took a weird way to go about it, but it worked. And I couldn’t be prouder of you.”

Emma  swallows and hugs him tighter. “This place is home, too. It’s just time for me to leave it.”


	14. orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, pilot!Emma and pilot!Alyssa are identified with bold font, and mechanic!Emma and driver!Alyssa are identified with underlined font.

**Emma** frowns as she looks around at the familiar buildings of the base.

“Things barely even exploded that time,”  Emma comments lightly, standing next to her. “Wasn’t very exciting, to be honest.”

“I don’t really need things to be exciting,”  **Emma** mutters. She glances at  Alyssa, then heads off towards the barracks.

“You haven’t talked to her yet?”  Emma sighs. “Are you serious?”

“Give me a bit of a break here. It’s a lot for me to figure out.”

“It’s not,”  **Alyssa** says quietly. “Believe me. It’s a lot easier than you think it is. You just need to be willing to try.”

Alyssa bites her lip. “What if I’m too afraid to?”

“That’s okay. But I think you need to ask yourself what exactly you’re more afraid of. Speaking up? Or losing her?”

* * *

**Alyssa** paces in  Emma’s room at the barracks while  Emma takes her tie off and hangs it in her closet.

“You were right about wearing our original clothes again on the last day in the Blue Universe,”  Emma comments. “I would’ve missed this shirt if I had left it there.”

“I would’ve missed it, too,”  **Alyssa ** mumbles.

“Hey. Are you alright?”

“Hm? Yeah, I just…”

“You’re worried.”

**Alyssa ** sighs and nods. “It’s funny in a way. Growing to love you has made me see my relationship with  **Nolan** differently. I don’t have romantic feelings for her, but… I feel protective of her. I want her to be happy.”

“I know what you mean.”  Emma walks over and sets her hands on  **Alyssa’s** hips, stopping her pacing. “I wish I could convince the other you to let herself be happy. She’s so scared. I didn’t even know she could  _ be _ this scared.”

“I understand it,”  **Alyssa** says with a thin smile. “When I ran towards that explosion, the one that put us in the Red Universe, all I could think about was how I knew I didn’t want to live the rest of my life without you. I was willing to risk anything to be with you. She wasn’t even given that option. She just had to watch  **Nolan** … well, as far as she knew, either die or disappear forever. I’d be terrified, too.”

Emma skims her hands up to  **Alyssa’s** shoulders. “I’d find you,” she whispers. “Okay? I need you to understand that. No matter what it took, no matter where I went, if something like that ever happened, I’d find you. I’d come back. I’d find a way. You know that if anybody can figure out how, it’s me.” She leans forward, resting her forehead against  **Alyssa’s** . “I love you.”

**Alyssa** swallows, her voice choked as she murmurs, “I love you.”

They kiss, a soft, slow kiss that builds to heat.  Emma lets her tongue press past  **Alyssa’s** lips, her hands swift and greedier than usual as they wander.

“ Emma, ”  **Alyssa** gasps.

“I’m sorry,”  Emma mumbles.

“No. No, don’t be sorry. Keep going.”  **Alyssa** opens her eyes and meets  Emma’s gaze, both of them panting. “Please.”

“I-I don’t really know what to do,”  Emma stammers. “But I… if you…”

**Alyssa** kisses her, softer. “Do you want to stop? Or do you want me to take the lead here?”

Emma stares for just a moment before grabbing  **Alyssa’s** shirt and kissing her, hard enough that they go off-balance and stumble a few steps towards the bed. “Lead.”

**Alyssa** grins, kisses her again, then pulls her closer.

* * *

_ “Captain Gonzales to the hanger. Captain Gonzales to the hanger.” _

Alyssa looks up from her seat on the ground next to one of the office buildings and sees the Orange Universe’s Kaylee start to hurry past her, pausing only as the voice over the announcement system comes again.

_ “Correction. Captain Gonzales, Chemist Edition, come to the hanger. Captain Gonzales, Chemist Edition, please come to the hanger.” _

Kaylee groans and flips off the nearest loudspeaker. “It’s not that fucking hard, Kevin!”

“You must be the married Kaylee, then.”

Kaylee looks over at  Alyssa and blinks. “Huh?”

“Not the one you know,”  Alyssa says with a thin smile and a wave.

“Oh.” Kaylee walks over and sits down next to her. “You came here with the others, then?”

“Yeah. I’m, uh… avoiding, I guess.”

“Can I ask why?”

“...Nervous. A little scared, maybe.”  Alyssa shrugs. “Whatever.”

“I would say that I don’t think  **Major Greene** is afraid of anything, but I know her well enough to know that would be a lie.” Kaylee rests her head back against the building. “What are you afraid of?”

“Love, funnily enough. It’s never really been an easy thing for me to begin with, and now this whole mess… alternate universes, soulmates, explosions… I don’t know how I’m supposed to understand what I’m feeling when I don’t even understand the system I’m playing in.”

Kaylee laughs. “Oh, honey, I’m a physicist and  _ I _ don’t even understand most of the world I’m living in. Most things are theoretical, and anything that isn’t is still pretty much just an educated guess. Things work, and we accept it. If I worried about why or how I’m able to love the woman I love, I’d never be happy.”

“Maybe I’m just not meant to be happy,”  Alyssa mumbles.

“Well,  _ that’s _ bullshit, and you know it. You  _ know _ you know it. You’re just trying to make excuses for yourself so that you don’t need to get your shit together and do the hard thing.”

Alyssa laughs quietly.

Kaylee blinks at her. “What?”

“Nothing, I just… I can definitely tell that you’re married to Shelby, that’s all. She’d say the same thing to me right now.”

“Good, because we’d both be right. What are you going to do about it?”

Alyssa rubs her jaw. “I have a few ideas.”

* * *

Emma sits silently in front of Elizabeth Nolan’s grave.

“Did you know I would come here, or is it just a coincidence?”  **Emma** asks as she sits next to her.

“I had a feeling you would. It’s what I would do if I knew I wouldn’t be back.”

**Emma** sighs. “Why do I want to be there? If she doesn’t want me, everyone else who’s ever cared about me is here. So why do I want to be there anyway?”

“It feels right. Trust me, I know what it’s like. It gets into your skin. Into your blood. It’s addictive, isn’t it? That belonging, like you were missing something this whole time. It’s not about birthright, or a disservice to the universes where we grew up, it’s just… it’s an energy, I think. A magnetism in our souls that makes everything feel right about the universe where our right person resides.”  Emma gives her counterpart a sideways glance. “She wants you. I don’t know when she’ll admit it. But believe me,  **Emma,** she wants you.”

“I hope so,” she whispers. “If not, at least… at least being where she is might help my soul be at peace, right?”

Emma pats her shoulder. “Yeah. I think it will.” After a moment, in which they both just look at the tombstone, she says, “In the Blue Universe she’s buried in Killarney. I usually make a trip out to visit once a year.”

**Emma** nods. “I’ll keep it up. I promise.” She sets her hand softly on top of the stone. “Would you mind looking out for… well, I suppose she’s both of ours, isn’t she? They both are.”

“You’re right.”  Emma pauses. “I’ll look out for her. For both of us.”

They stay there, quiet, until the sun starts to set and they both stand to head back to the base.

* * *

**Emma** opens her room, sighing at the incessant knocking. “Okay, okay, alright, what do you-  Alyssa? ”

She steps past her and into the room, and  **Emma ** closes the door behind her. “Hi.”

“What do you wa-”

The words are cut off as  Alyssa shoves her against the door, kissing her fiercely. She breaks it only when  **Emma** is out of breath and confused, and sets her hands on  **Emma’s** shoulders. “I-I’m not good at words. Or feelings. And I’m sorry for that, because you deserve both of them, but I don’t understand them. But I think I can show you. I think I can show you how much it hurt to feel like I might’ve lost you forever when that bike exploded. How much I’ve been trying to keep you at arm’s length because I’ve been afraid of what would happen if you were taken away. C-Can I? Can I show you? Please,  **Em,** I want you to stay with me. I want to prove it.”

**Emma** swallows, trying to clear her frazzled brain. “You don’t need to prove something to me,  Lys. ”

“I do, though. For you, and for myself.”  Alyssa brushes her fingers against  **Emma’s** jaw, a touch that makes  **Emma** sigh softly and close her eyes. “Let me show you,” she whispers.

**Emma** swallows again and nods. “Show me anything you want,  Alyssa Greene. ”

Alyssa’s eyes darken. “I will,” she murmurs, before pushing  **Emma** more firmly against the door and kissing her again.


	15. red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, pilot!Emma and pilot!Alyssa are identified with bold font, and mechanic!Emma and driver!Alyssa are identified with underlined font.

Dr. Becker claps her hands together when they reappear in her facility. “Alright. So-” She pauses, a slow grin forming on her face. She turns to her Alyssa and says, “Saturday nights, huh?”

Alyssa Becker smirks and shakes her head.

Emma  blinks. “What?” She turns and winces. “For fuck’s sake.”

**Emma** pulls  Alyssa  a bit closer to her and wraps the bedsheet tighter around them before holding up one hand, the other holding onto the fabric. “Look. This is not my fault.”

Dr. Becker just snickers, but Alyssa Becker rolls her eyes and heads for a side door. “Come with me. I’ll get you clothes.”

Once they’re out of the room, Dr. Becker glances at  Emma  and says, “I guess they sorted things out?”

“I guess so. Last I saw them they weren’t really talking.”

“Seems like they _ talked _ a lot.” She sighs softly. “Ah, memories.”

“Memories of when?” **Alyssa** asks, teasing challenge in her voice. “Last week?”

Dr. Becker smiles at her. “It would be impolite to say.” She holds a hand up so that only  Emma  can see her lips as she mouths, _ ‘Yesterday.’ _

Emma  snorts out a laugh.

“While we wait for the others, I can get an answer from the two of you. What would you like to do? Stay? Go home? Hell, I can even swap **Alyssa** to the Blue Universe, though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that option. It’s a lot of crossing.”

Emma  and **Alyssa** look at each other, and they both nod.  Emma  takes **Alyssa’s** hand in hers and squeezes it softly. “I love her,” she whispers. “I want to stay with her. In the Orange Universe. It’s where I belong; I can feel it.”

Dr. Becker nods. “Good. I think it will be good for you both.” She sets a small blue box in **Alyssa’s** hand. “That’s for you two.”

“What is it?”

“It’s how I communicated with my Alyssa all those years. A version of it, at least. All you need to do is write a letter and burn it with this, and it will appear in the mailbox of the person it’s addressed to, in the universe it’s assigned to. Blue device, Blue Universe.”

Emma  stares at the box. “That’s… crazy.”

“So is multiverse-hopping soulmates, but here we are.”

The door opens, and Alyssa Becker comes back in with **Emma** and  Alyssa , both dressed in jeans and soft gray t-shirts.

“Welcome back,”  Emma  says dryly. “You guys have fun?”

**Emma** silently flips her off before folding her arms across her chest and looking at Dr. Becker. “So. What’s happening?”

“These two have already decided that they’re going to stay together in the Blue Universe. I just want to know what your decision is.”

Before **Emma** can respond,  Alyssa  says, “You need to know something first.” She tugs at **Emma’s** arms until she lowers them, so  Alyssa  can link their hands. “I had a very good time last night,” she says softly. “A _ great _ time, even. And I hope that I conveyed what I was trying to say as best that I could. But you should hear me say it. Before you decide, **Em,** I want you to hear it.”

“Alyssa, I-”

“I love you, **Emma,** ”  Alyssa  interrupts. She takes in a shaky breath, her hands trembling so hard that **Emma** has to grip them herself to keep the contact. “I love you. I don’t quite understand it, but I do, and if you need to leave I understand. But no matter what, I want you to know.”

**Emma** pauses for a moment before leaning in and kissing her softly. “I love you, too,” she whispers. “I’m going to stay, Lys. I had already decided. I like your universe. Our universe.” She gives a small, cocky grin. “And I’m going to like kicking your ass in races for the rest of our lives.”

Alyssa  shoves her, playfully, and **Emma** responds by kissing her again.

Dr. Becker smiles, eyes soft as she hands an orange box to  Alyssa  just like the one she gave **Alyssa** . “Then we’ll get everyone back where they belong. **Alyssa**, if you could explain that to your counterpart there while we get things ready?”

As **Alyssa** shows her own device to Alyssa, Dr. Becker pulls the two other Emmas aside. “Before you go, there’s one thing I wanted to say to you.”

“What is it?” **Emma** asks with a small frown.

“She’s worth it,” Dr. Becker murmurs, giving a small look towards Alyssa Becker. “Alyssa Greene is worth all of this. I promise she is. Hold onto her.”

“I don’t plan on letting her go,”  Emma  whispers.

“Neither do I.”

“Good.” Dr. Becker pats both of them on the shoulder. “Because if either of you fucks things up, I might have to knock your head against something to get some sense back into you.”

**Emma** laughs. “Should you do that preemptively just in case?”

Dr. Becker smiles. “I have faith. In _ both _ of you. After all.” She winks. “I’m pretty sure I know you both rather well.” She pushes their heads gently and goes over to her wife, working on one of the computers.

**Emma** and  Emma  just look at each other, until **Emma** holds out her hand. “Good luck.”

Emma  shakes her hand. “You too.” She glances at  Alyssa . “Take care of her?”

“Of course.” **Emma** puts her hands in her pockets and looks at **Alyssa** . “And **Greene**?”

“Oh,”  Emma  says softly. “You don’t need to worry about that. Trust me. I have it all taken care of.”


	16. orange

“Stop trying to peek, Greene.”

Alyssa laughs, her hands still over her eyes. “I’m not peeking, Em. Just let me look already.”

“In a minute. Don’t be so impatient.”

“You’ve been in this warehouse for three weeks and I haven’t gotten my hands back on you since our first time. I have the patience of a saint.”

She hears Emma clear her throat, and her voice gets a bit squeaky as she says, “Right. Uhm. I, uh. I’ll be with you in just one more moment.”

Alyssa smiles softly. “You’d better.”

After another few seconds, Emma says, “Okay. Open your eyes.”

Alyssa lowers her hands and opens her eyes, and she gasps softly.

Her plane is finished. Everything has been completely repaired, restored like new, a sleek gray and black paint job with the Science Division’s white and gold logo on the side.

“Honey,” Alyssa whispers, taking a slow step forward as Emma jumps down from the wing. “It’s… It’s incredible.”

“I got you one more present, too.” Emma gives a sly grin and claps her hands together.

The lights turn off, and the paint on the logo glows.

Alyssa laughs gleefully. “You got Shelby to make the glow-in-the-dark paint?”

“I convinced her to make it a welcome to the universe gift. It helped that I worded it like I thought she couldn’t do it.” Emma claps her hands again, and the lights flicker back on.

“I love it. I  _ love _ it.” Alyssa cups Emma’s jaw and kisses her. “I love  _ you.” _

“I love you, too,” Emma says with a grin.

“Can I take it up?”

“Absolutely.”

_ “Yes!” _ Alyssa starts for the plane, but Emma grabs her by the wrist.

“One more thing…” She brings Alyssa’s hand up to her lips and presses a kiss to her knuckles.

“What is it?” Alyssa asks, her brow furrowed.

Emma pauses, looking nervous, then she kneels down, Alyssa’s hands in hers. “Alyssa Greene,” she murmurs. “I am not positive of what your customs are. Your traditions. The proper way to do this for you. All I know is what’s in my heart. I was led home to the life I belong in. I want you by my side for the whole of it.”

Alyssa’s eyes widen, and she whispers, “Emma.”

“My soul led me to you, Alyssa. I know who I am.” She gives a small smile. “I’m a mechanic from another place, a little lost in this world, but I’m one who loves you. I’d like to spend the rest of my life giving you everything I know you deserve to have. Showing you how much you matter to me.” Emma swallows, her throat tight. “Would you marry me, Alyssa Greene?”

Alyssa takes one of her hands back, using it to wipe at her eyes. She kneels down in front of Emma and sets her hands on her shoulders. “Yes,” she breathes, her voice wavering. “Yes, Emma Nolan, I’ll marry you.”

Emma grins and rests her forehead against Alyssa’s. She takes a small wooden box out of her pocket and opens it, revealing a silver ring, a green marbled heart with a crown, held by hands. “It was my grandmother’s,” she murmurs. “I took it from the Blue Universe before we left.”

“You had this planned that far back?” Alyssa asks, a choked sob in her voice.

“Yes. I just wanted to finish the plane first.”

Alyssa holds out her hand and lets Emma put the ring on her. “I love you. God, Emma, I love you.”

Emma smiles and presses a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, too.”

“Once I pull myself together, do you want to go with me for a trip in the plane?”

Emma looks at it, a calmness in her eyes. “I’d go anywhere with you, Alyssa Greene.”


End file.
